Personal Items
by LadyBauer
Summary: Natasha came to Shield with nothing... Rubbish at summaries, please read it and tell me what you think! BlackHawk of course! . Appearance of other Avengers will happen in later chapters. M for language, violence and a love scene. COMPLETE!
1. Chapter 1

**Don't sue me, I don't own anything! Although I wish I owned the rights to Jeremy Renner! Just a fluffy, somewhat smutty Blackhawk story, post movie, for your reading pleasure (I Hope!).**

**Please review!**

Clint Barton strolled through the hallways of their new living quarters in the Stark tower with one thing on his mind. Now obviously that one thing then splintered off into a million thoughts all culminating in one question when he arrived at his intended destination…Should I do this?

Natasha Romanov sat on her bed in silence staring at his face. She remembered when she came to Shield and had nothing but one bag; no personal items to declare because she had no personal life. No family, no friends, no memories and most certainly no photographs. Years later they were on a mission, posing as man and wife on vacation when he'd given his camera to a waiter to take their picture. She assumed at the time it was a ruse of some kind to cement their back story but later she would learn that he simply wanted to savour the moment.

He gave her a copy sometime later and said nothing.

"What's this for?" she asked innocently as his face grew slightly red. He sighed and shook his head looking away.

"I thought you could use at least one personal item. Neither one of us have photographs, happy memories or childhood stories but hey, for a few minutes there we had each other."

His words crushed her heart as she watched him walk away from her. Perhaps that's why he was her best friend, the only person she trusted in the world - because they were the same.

She smiled as she looked at the photograph for the millionth time, it's edges worn slightly at her constant touch. She almost didn't need to hold it, she took the mental form of it with her everywhere she went. They were sitting at a café table in Paris, both had been wearing sunglasses but as Clint had taken his off she had followed suit. She leaned into him, placing her hand on his leg as he wrapped his strong arms around her.

So many times she'd fantasised about that photograph and all the possibilities it held but as she looked around her sparse quarters in the Stark tower she sighed sadly knowing that it wouldn't be.

Involuntarily his hand was knocking on the door before he could talk himself out of it. A soft voice from inside the room said, "Come in Clint" warmly.

He smiled at her confidence that it would of course be him at her door. He heard a drawer shut hastily as he closed the door behind him he took in the breathtaking view in front of him. Natasha Romanoff was sitting up in bed, wearing only a tank top and shorts. Her knees were lightly pulled up to her chest with her back against the wall. A discarded book lay beside her and she looked expectantly up at him. He walked for ward and sat on the very edge of the bed looking down at the ground.

"Is it ok that I'm here?" He asked her without looking up. She looked at the clock on the wall telling her it was 3am before sliding over to the edge of the bed so that she was beside him.

Taking his large calloused hand in hers she raised it to her mouth and kissed his bruised knuckles gently. She was tired of pushing her feelings for him to one side - she'd been doing it for years. The look on his face when he came around from the blow to the head she'd given him broke her heart into a thousand pieces. She knew he'd bear some guilt for the things he did for the rest of his life no matter how much they all told him it wasn't his fault.

He was afraid to look up at her in case the tears that had formed at the edge of his eyes from her kiss would fall. He knew that a gesture like that had come straight from her heart. She was sparing with her words and had never touched him in that way before even though he suspected the feelings he had for her had been reciprocated from the very start.

Suddenly she leaned back and gently pulled his hand motioning for him to follow her. He did, still without looking at her until they were side by side on the bed. She rolled over to his side and draped her arm across his chest, burying her face in his neck. He exhaled deeply and was unsure if he should take her in his arms.

"Clint, hold me and let's sleep - nothing else matters tonight." She reassured him and he wrapped her up in his strong arms and pressed a sweet kiss to her temple.

"Lights out please Jarvis" Clint said into the darkness.

"Certainly Sir, good night." Jarvis replied dimming the lights slowly until the room was completely dark.

They were still for a second until he felt what he thought may be a warm tear fall on his chest. Then he realised that Natasha's shoulders were shaking.

"Natasha, what is it?"

"Don't look at me, I'll stop in a minute." She said burying her face into his side.

He took her chin in his hand and raised it gently to see her face. She resisted for just a second and let him see her glistening eyes overflowing with tears.

"Why?" He asked gently.

"Oh Clint, you don't know how afraid I was when Coulson told me about you. I was never so relieved to knock you out, YOU, not that other thing."

He chuckled softly and stroked her hair soothingly. "And now the way you're holding me and the way you feel. I…..I've never been treated so tenderly in my whole life."

His heart broke listening to her. She had been starved of love and affection from an early age and he'd guessed she had learned to stop looking for it. Her beauty was a barrier because she could always be sure of what men wanted from her.

"Tasha, I've wanted to hold you like this for a long time….I was a little afraid that you would never let me get this close to you."

Now it was her turn to chuckle, just because she's broken a few fingers, wrists and arms that have touched her in a manner she didn't like… It had always tickled him to watch her deal with sleazebags like that. Poor guys picked on the wrong woman.

He kept on stroking her hair and listened as her breathing slowed and evened and once she was asleep he squeezed her tighter until he felt sleep overcome him.

"Natasha…please…no no please" Natasha woke to the sound of her own name as Clint's arms tightened around her. As she lifted her head slightly she realised he was still asleep and dreaming. She rubbed his chest lightly trying to wake him up.

"Clint, Clint wake up, it's ok I'm here.." He woke with a start scaring her and she recoiled from him to the head of the bed. She looked into his eyes and breathed a sigh of relief, they were his own of course.

He looked away from her ashamed knowing that she would do that from time to time now and he cursed Loki for ever coming to earth.

"I'm sorry" she said looking at him apologetically, knowing that her gut reaction had hurt him.

The only sound in the room was their breathing slowing down again and Clint lay down rubbing his face with his hands trying desperately to get images from his mind. Images from shooting Fury to holding the tip of his knife to Natasha's beautiful throat, knowing he had every intention of killing her….

She softened when she saw the turmoil he was in and wanted so much to take it all away from him so she decided to do just that.

He felt her moving from behind his hands which were still covering his eyes. She carefully climbed on top of him and his eyes flew open as she settled with her legs either side of him, trying not to knock any wounds that were still healing.

"Natasha, wha-" She placed her fingers momentarily against his full lips silencing whatever he was about to say. If he was going to protest she didn't want to hear it. All she wanted was him and she was about to say something to him that she had never said to anyone…she hoped he knew that.

"Make love to me Clint." As she said it she took his hands and placed them on her stomach hoping that he'd shake that dopey look off his face soon and get to work.

He looked at her face and tried to process what she'd just said. He didn't think that Natasha believed in love and was pretty sure she never thought that sex had anything to do with love either. She searched his eyes and finally just smiled at him. That did it.

In one move he was up with his arm around her back flipping her over so that he was on top of her. She gasped and gripped his shoulders for dear life as his surprising move registered with her. He settled himself on top of her and kissed her forehead sweetly, ghosting his lips over her eyes and cheeks before capturing her mouth with his own.

He had imagined many times what it would be like to kiss her lips and it wasn't disappointing him so far. She pulled him down closer to her and held his face in her hands never wanting him to break this kiss. Their tongues wrestled for control feverishly and when he finally did pull back from her, needing to breathe, he smiled at her whimper at the loss of contact.

Still with one arm around her he lifted the covers off them completely and tossed them onto the floor. Pushing her hands up to her head he hoped she would keep them there because he would never be able to accomplish this mission if she was touching him. He blazed a fiery trail down from her neck to her stomach with his lips and fingers causing her to gasp and moan and make noises he had never heard before. He pulled her tank top up but figuring how to get it up over her head was clearly taking too long so instead he ripped the flimsy material right up the middle pulling it away from her and letting it fall to the floor.

At that she let out a giggle and he looked up at her realising what he'd done and that the concentration on his face was maybe a little too intense.

He laughed and moved back up her body to capture her lips once more. Now his touches were more controlled and less frenzied - he wanted her to feel and savour everything he was doing to her. For her part all Natasha could do in response to him was moan and kiss back. She had never allowed a man to render her so utterly powerless before. Furthermore she had no idea she would like it this much.

He kissed down her neck and hovered over each breast, enjoying their softness on his mouth and in his hands. He moved still further and looked up at her for approval as he hooked his thumbs into the waistband of her tiny shorts. She nodded at him, her eyes dark pools of desire for him as he pulled them off her completely. As he looked back at her he could not believe the beauty of this woman before him. She felt utterly exposed as he gazed at her and she pulled him to her for another kiss whilst working his t-shirt over his head revealing his muscles in all their glory.

She had always admired his chest and his arms and on lonely nights she had ran her hands all over her body imagining he was there with her pinning her to the bed with his lean muscular body. Now she didn't have to wonder anymore as she trailed her fingers all over his chest and arms. She tried to sit up to free him from his sweat pants but he gently pushed her back down, removing them himself. When she tried to touch him he shook his head and pinned her arms down firmly.

"Next time baby, this one is all for you." He realised he'd just called her baby out loud but by the look on her face she was ok with it. Just to make sure she didn't have time to think about it he took his index finger and trailed it ever so slowly from her lips over her rapidly beating heart, down through the valley between her breasts and finally all the way down to her moist centre pushing it in slowly.

The moan that came from her toes and escaped her lips made him want to come then and there but he pulled it together somehow to continue his work as she writhed beneath him. Her breathing became shallow and he replaced his finger with his tongue,

"Clint, please, I'm so close - " meaning she wanted him to stop but he inserted his finger again taking her hand in his saying.

"Come Natasha, please it's ok…" taking her over the edge again with his tongue he felt her orgasm wash over her as she squeezed his hand, moaning with total pleasure.

As she recovered he knew he'd never forget how she looked at that moment - hair splayed across the pillow, her gorgeous chest heaving up and down gasping for air.

When she came to her senses she pulled him up over her feeling his hard cock against her stomach. She kissed him so hard she sucked the air from his lungs and now he was the one left gasping.

"Please Clint, I need you inside of me now" As he was about to enter her he stopped and looked up suddenly.

"I don't have any protection Natasha, I should go and .." Natasha hooked her legs around his back opening herself up to him and she looked deep into his eyes.

"You are not leaving me now Clint Barton. I said I wanted you inside me and I do. I want to feel all of you, we don't need anything between us now. And as for you having no protection…you do. You have me." A single tear slid down her cheek and he kissed it away taking her lips in his once again as he entered her slowly feeling his heart explode with love for her as he did so.

She moaned his name in such a way that made him shiver. He pulled right out of her and plunged into her deeply making her nails dig into his shoulders. They found a steady rhythm together and he knew it wouldn't be long before they both lost control so he took her face in his hands and she looked deeply into his eyes as her moans became louder.

Moments later they both flew over the edge together with Clint collapsing on her chest nuzzling her neck as she came down from her high. Somehow he summoned the energy to reach down to the discarded blanket pulling it up over them both before wrapping her in his arms so tightly that she almost couldn't breathe. Not that she complained as she hugged him just as tightly back.

He woke up slowly as the room had become much lighter. He rolled over to find he was the only one in the bed. He opened his eyes to confirm this and frowned, relaxing a little when he heard the shower running. He threw the blanket aside and strode into the bathroom, maybe strutting a little.. No need for modesty now, not that they ever were really with each other.

As she rinsed the shampoo from her hair she heard his bare feet pad into the bathroom and watched his silhouette come closer to the shower door smiling at the realisation that he was naked.

His fingers drummed on the glass door before opening it fully to look at her. She winked at him and he winked back.

"I wondered where you went…then I realised you must need to collect yourself after I made you see stars last night." He said with a sexy smile. Then he let out a slightly high pitched moan which she assumed was an impression of her and she shook her head, flicking water at him.

"Well Clint I always knew you had an ego but I'm surprised you even fit your head through the door just now."

He chuckled again, looking her up and down. She did the same to him and he waggled his eyebrows at her,

"Like what you see?" he said stepping into the shower with her. She nodded as he took her in his arms and stood under the spray for a second wiping his face with his hand before it went to the back of her neck, holding her in place as he kissed her thoroughly.

When he pulled back he rested his forehead on hers looking into her eyes.

"That was pretty intense huh?" they hadn't exchanged any words about what happened yet and he desperately wanted to make sure that it wasn't just going to be a one off.

"It was..very intense. Did you think it was good?" He looked surprised by her question and said, "Didn't you?"

She ran her hands up and down his arms and over his shoulders avoiding his gaze for a second.

"Promise me you won't laugh?" He nodded looking at her seriously.

"I've only ever been with one other guy." She confessed as she looked down at their feet.

"You're kidding me." He said in disbelief. "How is that possible, you're so beautiful and warm and loving…"

"Yeah all of which I only discovered last night with you. I wasn't brought up to value affection or look for it even. Until you made me want it, need it so much I couldn't breathe even. But only if it was coming from you."

He smiled at her and drew her back in for another lingering kiss. He moaned into her mouth as he rubbed his hands up and down her wet back, giving her ass a squeeze making her squeal.

He reached behind them and turned the shower off. She went to get a towel and dried her hair roughly before standing on her tip toes to do the same for him. When she took the towel away he scooped her up in his arms and took her back to bed setting her down on it gently. She surprised him as she ducked out of his grasp and he sat on the edge of the bed with her in front of him on her knees on the floor.

She reached up to kiss him then as her arms snaked up around his neck. Then she broke the kiss to let her hands travel down his muscular chest and torso until her small hands wrapped around his semi hard cock.

He gasped and she looked up at him smiling triumphantly,

"You may well have made me see stars last night Clint Barton, but I'm about to take you all the way to Asgard!"

**More chapters to follow, don't be shy…..**


	2. Chapter 2

**WOW! You guys are so cool, thanks so much for the reviews and I'm really excited about how many of you added my story to your lists! Yey! Big plans for upcoming chapters, don't leave me now!**

Clint and Natasha danced around each other on the training mat waiting for their moment to strike. Steve and Thor watched from outside the training room. Their training sessions usually attracted attention given that they were so evenly matched and highly skilled. Clint was strong but Natasha was fast and seemed to anticipate his every move.

"Come on Tasha, make your move." Clint said, goading her.

She simply smiled and shrugged at him. "Maybe I will, maybe I won't. Maybe I decide kicking your ass is just too simple for me." As she stopped suddenly and walked away from him.

He followed her putting his hand on her shoulder only to have her wrench his hand over her head holding it up behind his back as he groaned. She'd trapped him and he was now a fish dangling on the end of her hook. Well shit he thought to himself.

"Fall for that one every time don't you Clint." She said smugly into his ear.

Without warning he spun around pulled her over his shoulder and deposited her back on the mat with a thud. She rolled over again and jumped up onto her feet again, arms out, inviting him to try again.

"These two are brave warriors, skilled in combat." Thor remarked to Steve as they watched the partners constantly get one over on each other before being thwarted by the other.

Steve nodded in approval and winced as he saw Natasha land a heavy elbow to Clint's ribs. He very much admired them both for their skill and commitment.

"They should lie together." Thor said abruptly making Steve stare at him with wide eyes. Steve was not used to talking about such things so openly, especially as regards a lady.

"I've said the wrong thing again…I meant no disrespect but it appears that they have feelings for each other which go beyond friendship." Thor said trying to dig himself out.

"It's ok Thor I understand what you meant don't worry" Steve shook his head a little as he turned back to the partners.

"I must really think before I speak shouldn't I? Like Stark tells me." Thor said, he seemed to be constantly drawing these stunned looks from people when he spoke.

"It's ok, like I said, what you say comes from the heart, you shouldn't worry about what people think. It seems to me Stark could take his own advice!" Steve smiled.

Natasha had gotten Clint into a headlock and she used all of her weight to keep him down. As he struggled against her he swung out his elbow connecting with her ribs a little harder than he had intended.

"Ow!" She recoiled and let him go. He had caught her on a tender spot that was still healing from the battle only 4 days ago.

He jumped up rushing to her as she stood holding her side.

"Oh my god I'm so sorry, are you ok?" She frowned up at him

"Of course I am, stop being such a girl, you just caught me on a bruise that's all." Annoyed at his over reaction (as she thought it was).

He puffed out a breath in frustration and headed to the bench. He wiped his face with a towel and took a long drink of water. Stupid to swing his elbow like that and hurt her. He knew she was in more pain than she was letting on.

She noticed his rising anger and went over to him, softening a little.

"Hey..I'm fine, I was very capably kicking your ass until you got in that lucky shot."

"Lucky" Clint muttered not looking at her. She folded her arms at his indifference, putting her defence up.

"You've got to stop worrying about hurting me, here and…in the bedroom." His eyes flew up to meet hers.

Steve and Thor watched with interest as the partners were clearly having a heated debate about something. They couldn't hear what was going on but Thor's money was definitely on Natasha if they fought for real.

"What do you mean by that?" Now he was getting mad. Natasha leaned into him a little further, concerned about discussing this personal matter in the gym.

"I mean since I told you that I'd only ever been with one guy and that it had been a long time since I'd had sex you've been treating me like a china doll. You should know by now that's the complete opposite of what I am."

"That's what you think? That I'm holding back because of the time we've spent together?" Clint pounded his fist on the bench making the weights shake.

He pointed at her throat, "That's why I'm holding back Natasha, because I damn near cut your throat 4 days ago!" He yelled angrily as he left the room, shoving the door open so hard the handle dented the wall behind.

She hung her head shutting her eyes, her fingers tracing the small cut which was practically gone. Made by the tip of Clint's knife as they had fought. They had been in their own little bubble for the last few days in Stark Tower, not watching television, or thinking about what had happened. They'd spent their time in bed with each other, sparring or hanging out with the rest of the Avengers.

Finally the world had caught up with them. Steve had left when they started to fight but Thor had stayed, curious at their interaction. Now Clint had stormed off and Natasha was packing her stuff up in silence, he felt compelled to talk to her.

"He is a man in turmoil I feel." Natasha lifted her head to see Thor standing over her. He looked strange in his earthly clothes - she was used to seeing him in his cape.

She sighed as he helped her up, "What do you mean?"

"He hurts, he bleeds, he feels - he is a warrior but he has a tremendous heart. It is what makes a good warrior great." She smiled at Thor's insightful words.

"I know. He just needs to drop this guilt he has over what happened." she sighed wishing she knew what to do.

"He will not do that in here with us….like I said he is a warrior. So are you." Thor said as he walked out of the door.

Natasha watched him go, mulling over his last words. He was completely right, Clint needed to get out, get back to what he knows. She lifted her bag and strode out of the gym, determined to help him.

Clint let the water run down his back as he stood under the shower, trying to wash away the harshness he had just shown to the only person he loved. He was damaged by what had happened and for the first time in his life he didn't know how to turn that around. He closed his eyes as he saw her sad eyes after what he'd said to her.

Damn he had a big mouth. He was shaken out of his daydream by the sound of faint knocking. He stepped out of the shower, throwing a towel around his waist as he strode to the door of his room. Unlocking the door he saw Natasha on the other side looking like she had something to say.

She barged past him as he shut the door, dripping water all over the floor. She did.

"Okay, I get it now, I'm sorry I didn't before." She looked uncomfortable as she rung her hands over and over.

"I don't know how to do this…you know be in a relationship which I think this is now but again, I don't know. All I know is how to treat you as my partner, my friend." she said impatiently.

He smiled as he folded his arms. She was cute when she was nervous.

"Anyway I called Fury, we have a mission, wheels up in an hour." She said plainly walking past him to the door.

"Oh and you may want to dry off." She said sexily looking him up and down as she left.

He could have jumped for joy as he hurriedly prepared. This is what he needed, something to get his teeth into - their skills were wasted playing Mario Cart with Thor or watching war movies with Steve.

They needed to be doing their job again and he couldn't be heading out with a better person. He didn't care where they were going or what the mission was.

Later as they stood together looking out the back of the plane that was taking them to their destination he took in long deep breaths of the fresh air with his eyes closed.

Natasha smiled at him for only a second and went back to her game face. He was coming back to her slowly, a few missions and he'd be cooking again.

"This is Black Widow and Hawkeye, in position." She said into her comms. Clint dropped to his knees and drew back his bow as the plane came to hover over the building they were to enter. With his usual accuracy he secured a line for them to drop to the roof. He slung his bow on his back and his arm around her waist, a little tighter than usual she noted but still all business, and the pilot watched as they both disappeared out of the back together into the dark night sky.

In the early hours of the morning they crept back into the tower and were unexpectedly greeted by Pepper and Tony.

"Hey nice of you to wait up for us Mom and Dad." Clint said with sarcasm as they all walked to the elevator.

"You know, if you break curfew again I'll have to turn you over my knee son. And no back talk to your mother please."

Natasha and Pepper looked at each other rolling their eyes. Tony and Pepper continued onto the penthouse as Clint and Natasha got off on their floor. They passed her room first and he watched from the doorway as she dumped her bag on the floor and took off her jacket.

"Hey, you want to have a sleepover in my room?" He smiled at her leaning against the doorway.

"Okay, meet you there in a little while." She winked at him.

"Don't be too long, we have to tell the ghost stories while it's still dark!" He yelled over his shoulder as he slung his back over his back and walked on.

This was comfort, she thought to herself. She was finally with the man she wanted and his good natured teasing just made him all the more sexy.

She climbed into his bed and moulded herself to his body as he squeezed her tightly. She looked up at him and he kissed her hungrily.

"Mmm, I could get used to this you know." She said to him settling her head perfectly into the space between his chest and arm that she'd come to call her own.

**Coming up next, the partners face their toughest challenge yet...**

**Reviews = Love!**


	3. Chapter 3

**So this one is kind of a filler but thanks for the suggestions on how to move the story along! I'm getting there I promise...**

The mission had gone South, fast and Natasha, Thor, Steve and Clint were being cornered by a group of what seemed to be superhuman Ninjas who never got tired!

As they closed in on the group their air support final came and landed laying down cover fire for the Avengers to make their escape.

"Go! I'll hold em off for as long as I can." Clint said as he continuously fired his his bow and arrow at their attackers. Steve and Thor took off at a gallop but Natasha lingered a second longer patting him on the back before taking off running towards the plane.

She struggled to suck air into her lungs as they burned in her chest - she hated running fast but if she didn't have a lot of choice at this point. Just as she saw Thor and Steve jump into the plane several of their attackers emerged from behind a building and began firing at her. She fired some rounds back until her gun clicked signalling it was empty. She had no ammo left so she threw it away and focused on getting to the plane.

Shots from inside the plane took care of two of the attackers but one more was coming for her and she knew she wouldn't make the plane before he got her. He took aim at her and as the gun went off she slowed and closed her eyes only to look confused when she didn't get hit.

She opened them to see him on the ground with an arrow in his chest. Then Clint came running up behind her taking her by the arm and pulling her up to the plane with them both jumping on at the last minute as it took off.

Thor and Steve observed the two assassins on the floor of the plane for a moment, gasping for air and groaning at their rough landing on the hard surface, before helping them up and onto their seats.

Natasha looked at Clint, "Thanks" she said breathlessly.

He waved his hand dismissing her as he hung his head, "No need for that, not between us."

She half smiled as she leaned back, "I know, still though….thanks" He nodded at her finally looking at her with a crooked smile.

She turned her head to look out of the window, they should be back home in about an hour's time. Home had been Stark tower for over a year now. The Avengers initiative had been called on a few times with tremendous success and all those who doubted them were now starting to cheer for them.

Thor took long absences but the rest saw each other everyday and they were all very close. Not as close as she and Clint were obviously as she smiled to herself. They had been together for the same length of time and they were the well oiled machine in the field they always had been. Fury had assumed their participation in the Avengers had bonded them even closer, little did he know they preferred a different kind of bonding nowadays.

But it wasn't just the sex that was great, it was the being together, the loving. Although neither one of them had dropped that particular bomb yet, it was always implied. Particularly by Clint but then he had always been a little softer than her anyway!

As they arrived back and walked through the hallways they peeled off to their different areas until only Clint and Natasha remained. They walked beside each other in a comfortable silence until Clint grabbed her hand and pulled her into a storage room.

"Clint! What the hell" His lips crashed onto hers as he removed the bag from her shoulder and threw it down on the floor. She didn't even know where they were but guessed by the cramped conditions it was a closet of some kind.

Clint's hands roamed all over her body and came to rest on her ass as he lifted her up and pressed her back against the wall finally breaking their kiss to look at her.

"You scared me tonight, don't ever do that again." He pleaded as he worked the zip down on her suit and exposed her skin to his mouth. Desperate for the contact with her. As much as he admired her in that suit what he loved the most was her soft skin against him.

She moaned as he sucked on her breasts through her bra and managed to say, "I'm sorry, but I'm ok, we're ok." She suddenly pulled his earlobe, making him look at her, "Anyway, Mr I'll Hold 'Em off, I think we're even on the worry score"

She scolded him gently as she stroked his hair. He gave her the warm smile she'd learned was only ever for her and then slowly let her down in front of him. He zipped up her suit again before wrapping her in his arms for a second.

"Hey…." She said disappointed.

"I've just realised I don't want to fuck you in here, I'd rather make love to you in my bed later." He said as she looked up at him smiling slowly.

"And in the shower, on the floor, etc" he said between kisses. She laughed as he planted a final one on the top of her head before picking up their bags and opening the door for her.

She took her bag from him on the way past and winked at him as she walked on to her room.

"This is a mighty feast, thank you Pepper, it has a kick to it's flavour!" Thor said as he banged his fist on the table in approval. That used to make them all jump but now they scarcely raised an eyebrow as they greedily munched down the curry that Pepper had cooked for their return.

Their group had now been completed by Tony and Bruce finally coming out of their favourite place on earth, the lab. They all sat around the large dining table in Tony and Pepper's penthouse now bursting at the seams after the hearty meal.

"It's my pleasure Thor, really, I like to see a guy with a healthy appetite" Pepper said wiping her mouth and shooting a look at Tony who hadn't cleared his plate.

Tony held up his hands in mock horror, "Now honey it was beautiful really it was, I just took a little too much. Here you go big guy, go for it." He said passing his plate to Thor who eagerly accepted it.

Clint laughed as Thor began to devour what had to be a fourth helping of his dinner as Steve looked on in amusement. "So Natasha, what are you wearing to the fundraiser tomorrow night?" Pepper asked.

Natasha rolled her eyes and said "I guess I need to go buy a new dress, I don't really know." she said frustrated by their mandatory attendance at this public event.

Tony looked up at Clint and sat back with his eyes twinkling. "Say that reminds me you guys, I heard the funniest noises coming out of that supply room on your floor you guys, did you notice anything?"

Natasha kept her head down looking at her plate while Clint shook his head innocently looking Tony dead in the eye. Natasha knew Clint's poker face because she'd watched them all lose a lot of money in poker to the archer. She wouldn't play, not with any of them, gambling didn't interest her.

"Tony what are you babbling about?" Pepper said getting up to get another glass of wine. She lifted the bottle and topped up Natasha's and her own glasses before settling back down beside Tony.

"I'm just saying there are some big old SPIDERS in that room you know….I wouldn't go in there." Natasha took a gulp of her wine and continued to look anywhere but Tony.

"Spiders? I despise those creatures." Said Thor between mouthfuls. "Sorry Natasha.." He said playing into Tony's hands without knowing it. Natasha shook her head and took another large gulp of wine.

"Big huge spiders," gestured Tony with his hands to his captive audience. "And they have a touch of red on them too." He said pointedly putting his glass to his lips.

Clint puffed out a breath and said, "Any dessert?" Desperately trying to change the subject. Before Pepper could answer he said, "I think there's some ice cream in the freezer down in the kitchen." He said getting up.

Bruce and Steve followed suit, never ones to turn down a little ice cream. The two of them started down the stairs before everyone else. Bruce didn't like being confined in an elevator if it was only a few floors and the Captain just didn't like them at all.

As Clint, Natasha and Thor made their way over to the elevator they thanked Pepper for the meal once again.

"Hey guys come on I was just getting to the part where the webs made by this spider are so huge that like a bird could get tangled in one." Tony said as they all stepped into the elevator.

Clint could feel his anger boiling as he clenched his fists at his sides. Natasha hadn't said a word since Tony started his little game but redness in her cheeks was probably a dead give away. Come on doors, close, for the love of God, she said to herself.

As the doors closed slowly Thor bade Pepper a good evening with a slight chivalrous bow and Tony called into the elevator,

"A bird, you know, like maybe the size of a hawk?" Just sayin…." as the doors closed completely Tony walked away triumphantly with a puzzled Pepper staring at him.

He turned back as he walked shooting her a look and saying "Oh yeah, I'm good." Then he dropped to his knees dramatically as if on stage with his arms spread wide, "We love you Stark tower, good night!"

"I have never been more embarrassed in my whole life!" Natasha cried the moment Clint's door shut behind them.

"Calm down baby, he's just trying to bait us." Clint said as he sat down on the bed and took off his boots, watching her pace around the room with her hands on her hips. Oh so cute…

"Yeah and it worked, that guy is the worst kind of asshole!" she said shaking her head. She couldn't believe she'd been so stupid to have let them be exposed like that. Damn Clint and that tongue of his she thought to herself, this was all his fault.

"What does it matter if he knows anyways…" Clint said getting up. "….because he'll blabber to everyone, that's why it matters!" She cried turning her back to him with her arms folded.

Clint shoved his hands in his pockets and tried figure out where she was coming from here. "What's really bothering you, you're not ashamed of us are you?" He said carefully. She spun around to face him and softened at his appearance. He looked like a little boy bracing himself to be scolded. She smiled and closed the distance between them, snaking her arms around his waist. As she laid her head on his taught chest she sighed.

"No, of course I'm not…..if I was that kind of girl I'd yell it to total strangers that you were my guy." He smiled at her referring to herself as a girl.

"It's just that - we've always been so private and now we have this beautiful thing between us and I don't want it spoiled or cheapened by anyone else's opinions." She confessed to him in a hushed tone of voice.

"It's ok, I understand." Boy did he, his chest was almost certainly puffed out with pride at what she'd just said and he squeezed her tightly against him, rocking her a little to soothe her.

She turned her face into his chest mumbling, "Now we have to go to this stupid fundraiser thingy tomorrow night and I don't even have a dress…" she sighed looking up at him.

He took her face in his hands rubbing his thumbs over her soft cheeks and leaned in for a soft kiss.

"I'm sure you'll work something out" he said before dipping his head down for another sweet kiss from his girl.

**Next up, dressing up …and down and a big step for our dynamic duo!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Thanks again guys - sorry to leave you hanging!**

Tony danced around the lab early in the morning to the strains of AC/DC - All night long as he finished up his work before his next meeting with Pepper.

"Shook me all night long…" as he shuffled over to his workbench. "Knocked me out…aaahh" Tony nearly jumped out of his skin when Clint stepped out of the shadows right beside him.

"Good lord bird man, you scared the hell out of me." Tony said holding his chest dramatically. "I am not a young man you know."

Clint smirked with his arms folded, "Yeah fear is an unpleasant emotion….much like embarrassment." Clint said with emphasis on the last word.

"Ohh ok, so you're a little pissed about dinner last night. Look I was just messing with you, I actually think it's great that you guys are doing…whatever it is you're doing.." Tony said sheepishly like a child that was being scolded for misbehaving.

Clint shook his head and stepped towards Tony who suddenly stood up straight. "I'm not worried that you know about Natasha and I, we've been together for over a year - the fact you've only found out just now is frankly embarrassing, for you…"

He said sighing and leaning against the workbench. "But that's not why I'm here really - I need your help Stark. I've got a personal project in mind but I need your expertise" (with his fingers making air quotes around that last word) "if you could spare me some of your precious time."

Stark raised his eyebrows at him, "Ah huh, I'm interested."

"Only one condition that you don't tell anyone, not even Natasha is going to know about this until I'm ready, ok?" He said seriously.

"Sure, sure I won't say a word I swear. I'm not anxious to get an arrow between the eyes anytime soon." Tony said holding his hands up.

"Ok, " Clint said as he puffed out a breath, "Here's what it is….."

Natasha and Pepper browsed through the dresses in the store trying to choose one for Natasha to wear. This was the first time that Natasha had gone shopping with anything resembling a girlfriend as she usually just went for the most provocative dress around only needing it to draw a target into her web.

"So what colour were you thinking of?" Pepper said picking up a black dress and holding it up.

"Not black really," Natasha said as Pepper put the dress down again. "I'm not really used to wearing a lot of colour so I guess I'll have to try some on."

Pepper gave her a pitied look as she watched her look through the dresses on the rail. She was guessing that this was a first for her by the way she was stumbling through it. Natasha and she and not really been friends but Pepper saw no reason why they couldn't be now. Pepper guessed she must be nearly 30 and seemed to have no idea how to interact with other women on a social level.

Natasha always wore black on missions and it was the last thing she wanted to wear tonight. She was thinking it was kind of like a date, their first in fact even though they'd been together for so long and even the thought of a date situation made her want to throw up.

"So I suppose Tony told you about me and Clint?" Natasha said out of the blue.

Pepper looked up with wide eyes, silently cursing Tony. "He did and I am so sorry about the way he acted at dinner, well, you know how he can be….but I don't think anyone else knows and he totally won't say anything." Natasha shook her head, "Pepper, it's ok really. The truth is we've been together for over a year now, since we moved to the Tower actually."

"No way! I can't believe you guys haven't been found out before now then to be honest!" Pepper exclaimed.

"Yeah I know, " Natasha said smiling. "Not that we've been hiding but it's all so new for us still you know we just needed time to figure it all out." Pepper nodded understandingly.

"So now for the first time in my life I have a boyfriend and I want to look amazing for him tonight." Natasha sighed heavily looking around at all the dresses. If only they had been trained for this at SHEILD…

Pepper smiled at her, "That's really nice to hear, you guys deserve to be happy you clearly love each other very much."

Natasha simply nodded at her as Pepper's eyes settled on a dress just behind her. She rushed over and pulled it off the rail holding it up dramatically,

"You have got to try this on, right now!"

Later Natasha stepped out of the bathroom in one of Clint's T-shirts having just done her hair in wavy curls which she knew Clint loved. He stood with his back to her tying his bow tie with quick precision. He caught a glimpse of her walking over to the table and couldn't help but whistle at her, winking when she looked up at him and smiled.

She was so beautiful, he hadn't seen her dress but he'd be happy even to be seen out with her in that t-shirt because she looked so damn hot in it.

He shook his head a little as he tried to shove away thoughts of throwing her down on the bed and sliding that t-shirt over her head.

"Mr Barton, Thor requests your help Sir." Jarvis said interrupting his dirty daydream.

"What do you mean Jarvis?" Clint said putting on his jacket.

"I believe he is having trouble with the concept of a tuxedo. He said that since you were an earth bound man you would be the best to help him. He sounds quite distressed." Jarvis added as Natasha laughed.

Clint sighed, "Tell him I'll be there in a second."

"Yes Sir."

Clint walked over to where Natasha was sitting and bent down to kiss the top of her head, looking at her in the mirror as she applied her make up.

"So apparently I've been summoned but I have something for you first." He said as she turned around watching him pull what seemed to be a jewellery box from his jacket pocket. He handed it to her and knelt down beside her.

"What's this?" She asked holding the box up in front of him.

"Well if you open it you'll find out won't you?" He said sarcastically. As she rolled her eyes at him she opened the box and was astonished to see the most beautiful white gold diamond tennis bracelet.

She looked at him in disbelief with tears in her eyes. "This is for me?" She asked him so innocently it made his heart ache. He smiled taking the bracelet out of the box and placing it on her wrist fastening it. Then he kept hold of her hand as he reached up slightly to dab her tears away.

"Of course it's for you, I've never bought jewellery for any other girl you know. I bought it because you deserve to have nice things, you shouldn't be able to live out of one bag all your life. I want to make memories with you, that you'll always remember the moment I gave you this bracelet every time you look at it."

He took her arm and kissed the inside of her wrist just above where the bracelet rested as she stroked his face.

Then he straightened up and said, "Now I gotta go help a god out with his tux." They both laughed at the ridiculousness of what he had just said.

As he left the room she called after him, "Clint?" he stopped and looked at her expectedly.

Her mind was screaming at her. Tell him you love him, tell him you love him but at the last second she chickened out.

"Thank you again - so much." She said instead, "Anything for you darlin." He said sexily as he left.

Clint arrived at Thor's room just in time to hear him cry, "Sons of Asgard!"

"Need some help buddy?" Clint said entering the room to see Thor, shirt and pants on but he was struggling with his tie, and suspenders.

Thor looked up and puffed out a breath nodding slowly.

A little while later Thor, Bruce, Steve, Clint, Tony and Pepper waited in the lobby for Natasha. Clint lent against the wall and looked up as soon as the elevator dinged signalling it's arrival.

As the doors opened Natasha stepped out to gasps from Pepper and Tony. Thor, Bruce and Steve's mouths collectively dropped open at the same time.

Natasha was wearing a dark green satin strapless gown with a dark red sash around her small waist and a split in the front which was showing a decent amount of her shapely leg.

She smiled awkwardly at them all before Tony said, "Ok guys, cars are out front, go in the last two cos obviously the most impressive looking one is mine…" Pepper nudged him in the ribs, "Ah hem?"

"Ours, I meant ours, goes without saying, ok let's hustle," he said taking Pepper by the hand and leading her outside. The other guys followed as Natasha waited for Clint to get his back off the wall and his jaw off the floor.

He walked towards her with a hand in his pocket drinking her in and offering her his arm chivalrously. She accepted and leaned into him as they walked out of the building,

"You got anything to say?" She said to him. He smiled and opened the car door for her,

"I was trying to remember the Russian for wow…" he reached for her hand which she gave immediately.

"Bay, "she answered.

"Then that's what I'm saying!" He said helping her inside.

Once they had sneaked in the back entrance of the party to avoid the paparazzi they were treated to the most beautiful room and there was an orchestra playing.

Later they all sat around their table drinking champagne and looking at the assembled crowd. They'd been to many parties like this together although Clint was usually watching in tactical gear through the scope of his bow or a sniper rifle. He was pleased to be here inside with her for the first time.

"Now Steve, we should find you a nice girl to dance with…" Pepper said to a horrified looking Steve.

"Oh gosh no I don't think I could you know.." He said nervously but apparently Pepper did not take no for an answer and in the time it had taken him to protest she was dragging him out of his seat searching the crowd for a suitable candidate.

He looked back at his team mates, his eyes pleading for help but they simply waved to him laughing. Bruce kept excusing himself to go and take some time out during which he would do some breathing exercises to keep 'the Other Guy' at bay.

Clint suddenly moved off his chair and held out his hand to Natasha, "Let's dance." He was a little nervous and it sort of came out like a command much to Thor's amusement.

"A romantic gesture indeed my friend." the god remarked emptying his glass.

Natasha smiled and accepted following him onto the dance floor. As he took her in his arms and they began to move to the music he rubbed her back soothingly as she sighed contentedly leaning on him.

"This is our first date you know…" He said to her chuckling.

"I was thinking about that earlier today, it's so totally us to only have our first date after we've been together for what, 18 months?" She observed.

"19 months, 3 days…" He corrected her provoking a large smile to appear on her face as she squeezed his hand tightly. In his head all he could hear was, tell her you love her, tell her you love her, NOW!

"You know, they're all watching us." She said as he spun her past their table.

"I do, so I was thinking maybe it's time we just give in." He said, as she gave him a puzzled look.

He lent in and planted a lingering kiss on her lips scorching them almost. He looked at her and she leant back in this time granting his tongue access to her mouth as his hold on her tightened.

At the table Tony clapped and raised his glass towards the couple, "Well there you go now…yeah Barton, get some!"

Bruce leaned over to Thor and said, " So are they a thing now?"

"My friend, you need to leave the lab a little bit more." Thor replied slapping him on the back.

After a great night Natasha and Clint walked into the lobby of the tower when Natasha stumbled slightly. He wasn't sure if it was to do with the fact she was a little tipsy or the fact she was wearing ridiculously high (but sexy) shoes. After catching her by the arm Clint scooped her up in his arms and carried her over to the elevator. She laughed saying, "you don't have to carry me you know."

"Really, cool because you're damn heavy." He said mockingly as she punched him in the arm nestling her head on his shoulder. Once they stopped on their floor he said,

"Let's stay in your room tonight..mine's too far away." They almost always stayed in his room because it was at the very end of the hall, away from prying eyes or ears but now that they'd displayed their feelings to everyone there wasn't much point in sneaking around.

He carried her into the room kicking the door shut, "you know I didn't really trip, I just wanted to see if you'd carry me." She said laughing as he reached the bed. "Oh is that so…" he said - she thought he was about to lay her gently on the bed but he pretty much dumped her on it, holding his back for comedic effect as she threw her purse at him.

"Hey!" She laughed as she sat up on the edge of the bed. He laughed as he threw off his jacket and tie, loosening a few buttons on his shirt.

She slowly lifted the hem of her dress to her knees looking into his eyes, "You want to help me off with these shoes please?" She said coyly. He considered her offer whilst he took his own shoes and socks off finally going over to her and kneeling down in front of her. He patted his knee for her to put her feet up and she did.

He slowly unbuckled her shoes and discarded them beside him. Still with her feet on his knee he massaged her ankles a little as she sighed and closed her eyes at his healing touch. His hands travelled up the backs of her legs as he watched the expression on her face, her slight smile and moan of contentment. Followed by a chuckle when he tickled the back of her knee; her eyes flew open to look at him and she sat up to pull him in for a kiss.

He sat up on his knees and pressed his body to hers holding her tightly as he kissed her. He pulled back and looked at her, still holding her close.

"I love you Tasha, I've always loved you." He said with absolutely no expectation of her saying it back to him. She had come a long way in terms of sharing her feelings with him and being affectionate but even so he wondered.

She had never believed that she would say those words to anyone but there in front of her holding her tenderly in his arms was the man who spared her life seeing something in her even then that she didn't see in herself. The man who became her friend and ally and understood her more deeply than she could have imagined. This man was now in addition her lover and the person that she wanted to be with for the rest of her life. For all these reasons she took a deep breath and said it back.

"I love you too Clint, I couldn't have imagined how deeply I've fallen in love with you."

"Show me," He said as he pushed her back onto the bed gently climbing on top of her enjoying the feel of her satin dress against him.

She unbuttoned his shirt and slid it from his shoulders with a smile, remembering their very first night together when an anxious Clint ripped her vest off. She ran her hands over his muscular chest and arms which were now so familiar to her, she knew every mark on his body, every scar, every freckle he had.

He pulled her up to pull the zip down on her dress to reveal some very sexy underwear which he very much approved of.

"Now these were purchased with you in mind…and were kind of expensive…" She said as he lay down beside her running his hands over the delicate lace.

"Yeah I know so don't rip em, right?" He said shaking his head. She rolled over on top of him as he sat up and removed her bra as he kissed and gently bit her neck giving her a hickie she would definitely not be able to hide.

Their slow exploration of each others bodies was careful and loving until they were totally naked. She took the lead in slithering down his body taking his hard cock in her mouth. He gasped as he tangled his fingers in her hair. Before too long he was panting and pulled her up to meet his mouth again rolling them over.

His fingers connected with her centre and were met with a deep moan into his mouth as he kissed her harder. He groaned, "oh my God Tasha, so good" he said almost in a dream like state. She was ready for him and by the subtle hint of her nails digging into his back she wanted him inside of her now.

As he pushed into her he blessed whomever invented birth control because he relished the feeling of their bodies connecting like they were two halves of the same thing.

He began to move and knew by her cries it wouldn't be long before she came and he along with her so he sped up the pace he had set as she locked her legs around him not being able to get close enough to him.

Her moans became louder and louder until they both finally collapsed exhausted against each other. As they came down from their high Clint planted kisses all over Natasha's face and neck,

"This is good Nat, this thing we have - don't ever leave me ok?" He voiced his innermost feelings to her at this most intimate moment without thinking.

She stroked his face, inches away from her own feeling his breath on her cheek. "There's no way I'd leave you, don't you know you're my guy?" She said as she kissed him lovingly.

**A little longer chapter for you - more to come! **


	5. Chapter 5

**Thanks for the reviews, once again, you guys are the best! I was considering ending this one at the last chapter but I guess I've taken them this far, I might as well take them all the way….**

"Clint where the hell are we going - we've been driving for over an hour!" Natasha said impatiently in the passenger seat of Clint's jeep.

Clint smiled wryly keeping his eyes on the road the whole time - patting her knee reassuringly. She'd been like a child saying 'are we there yet' pretty much since they set off. It was a Saturday morning and he'd asked her if she'd like to go on a road trip and get out of the city for a little while. She'd jumped at the chance but was puzzled as to why he was keeping their destination a secret.

She sighed as she looked out of the window of the jeep, playing with the bracelet on her wrist. She didn't always get a change to wear this precious item but loved doing so because it came from him. He hadn't bought her many presents because they weren't that sort of couple. She much preferred the gesture of the single red rose he would leave on her pillow if he was going away without her usually accompanied with a note of some sentiment in Russian - for her eyes only.

Finally he would leave her one of his t-shirts to sleep in until he returned, carrying his scent that he knew would help her rest easier. Many nights she had put one on and curled up in a ball on her bed, shedding a few tears before falling asleep, but she had never told him that.

"Ok, here we go," said Clint as he suddenly turned the jeep off the road sharply and they began to follow a rough track towards some hills.

"Tell me we did not come all this way to go parking?" She said incredulously.

"No, of course not woman!" Clint said immediately - having long since gotten away with referring to Natasha as 'woman', others had not been so lucky. Tony's current broken fingers were a case in point - an accident according to Natasha.

He began to drive straight at the side of the hill and Natasha was completely confused and then stared in wonderment as a section of the hill seemed to roll back allowing them to drive inside into a dark cavern where Clint stopped the jeep and turned off the engine.

He sat back and looked at her completely bemused face and laughed.

"Come on let's go." He motioned for her to follow him out of the jeep. She got out and observed they kind of garage they were in as the hillside closed behind them.

She followed him to a door which he unlocked with his handprint. He looked back at her and winked as he pushed the door open and motioned for her to walk through. When she did, she arrived in a large kitchen and dining area. She looked around at all the modern appliances and shiny surfaces, yet to be used not being able to resist running her hand along them.

Clint hung back a little watching her taking it all in.

"Clint, what is this place, where are we?" She asked, her curiosity getting the better of her.

"This is my house. I've been working on it for over a year now, with a little help from our friendly neighbourhood billionaire philanthropist or whatever his title is these days." He said leaning against the kitchen counter.

"Tony? Why didn't you tell me about it?" she asked him.

"Well I wanted to get it just right and now it's finished. I bought the land years ago but I was never really sure what I wanted to do with it." He wandered into the living room motioning for her to follow him around the corner which led her to gasp as she saw a huge window from the floor to the ceiling looking out into a ravine behind the hill. It was the middle of the day and the sky was beautiful as she went right up to the glass to peer out.

"Wow.." she said quietly.

"And at night or if you just want a little shade…" He floated his hand over a control panel on the wall and the glass darkened until it was black. As he reversed the process Natasha saw him looking pretty smug and laughed. He was like a big kid with all these toys and innovations - she could imagine how much fun he'd had with Tony planning all of this.

"Come on," He said taking her by the hand leading her down a hallway to a closed door. Another control panel was on the wall so she stepped away expecting him to use his handprint to open it as before but instead he took her right hand and placed it on the pad and she was amazed to see that the door slid open.

"My hand opens a door?" She asked as he nodded and led her inside. "How did you manage that?"

"Oh it was a complicated manoeuvre of taking an impression of your hand while you were asleep and let me tell you something…it was a tough mission!" He said shaking his head. "Plus it opens all the other doors too."

"This, could be my favourite room." She said as the room lit up and she observed a giant wall with every kind of weapon imaginable. Sniper rifles, small guns, knives and, of course, it being Clint's house and all a large collection of bows and arrows.

She turned to find the wall behind her was empty and she looked at it's empty shelves and holders.

"That's for your weapons - I mean if you think you'd want to spend time here with me…" Clint said as he looked at his feet.

She smiled at his obvious nerves after all this time and walked over to him. She slipped her arms around his waist resting her head on his chest. She felt his strong arms envelope her in one of his awesome hugs and she looked up at him.

"I would love to spend time here with you. You ought to know by now that I hate being without you, don't you?" He nodded and kissed her softly. She knew she should probably tell him stuff like that more often but she was still learning how to do this everyday and it wasn't easy for her.

He kissed her forehead and released her from his arms, taking her by the hand into the next room.

"Now this is where all the magic is gonna happen, " he said grinning as he jumped onto a gigantic bed.

The bedroom was light and airy which surprised her with a similar window to the living room. The bed was the main feature but then there was a living area too with some confy looking armchairs and a fireplace. Beside the fireplace there was another door which she opened on impulse and found herself standing in a huge bathroom with a steam shower and bathtub that could probably fit about 12 people in it.

"Nice, " she said looking around.

"Hey come see this," he called from the bedroom. She went back in to where he was standing at another door beyond the bed. He opened it and let her walk in first.

It was a huge walk in closet with a dressing area and two sides, she was guessing another his and hers space.

"Well, looks like I'm going to have to buy a lot more clothes to fill this space adequately, " She said smiling back at him.

"Oh yeah some sexy dresses, sexy underwear…" she laughed at him, "Maybe some ordinary things too." He conceded.

She took his hand and led him out to the bed, laying down with him and tangling herself up with him as she loved to do.

He held her tightly and trailed light kisses down the side of her face that was next to him.

"So you like it then?" He said to her.

"I love it…but does this mean that you're leaving the tower?" She asked kind of dreading his answer.

"No, it has to be our base for the time being but this place has been my dream. I've never owned property, I've never really even had an apartment. We've never talked about money but I'm sure you know that I'm not short of it. I'm not quite at Stark's level but I've got enough to live comfortably for the rest of my life."

"I knew you would have a nest egg…as do I." It was a commonly known, never discussed fact that in their criminal lives before SHIELD Clint and Natasha had amassed sizeable personal fortunes because of the huge fees they could command for their expertise.

For some reason, Nick Fury never questioned them about this and never made any attempt to enquire as to the final figure. Clint had always supposed that was because he was pretty sure Fury had one too. Of course there were their SHIELD salaries but that wasn't exactly anything to write home about. Just that they rarely had a chance to spend any of it.

Natasha looked up at him and said "it's a great dream and it's been my dream too ever since we got together." Reaching up and pressing her lips to his.

Natasha smiled as she thought back to the day Clint first showed her around what had become their home - their sanctuary away from the world. She loved this house and the fact that he built it especially for them.

The other Avengers were now aware of it's existence having finally become curious about just where they had been going on their down time for the past six months but they had never been there before until now. Natasha and Clint had decided to have them over for dinner as a kind of housewarming party.

Clint whistled as he walked down the hallway to their bedroom. He liked how cosy this house had become as Natasha had added touches here and there - they'd learned about decorating together since neither of them had either done it before.

"Hey babe are you about ready? Dinner is going to be awesome, if I do say so myself!" He leant against the doorway and frowned at what he saw She was sitting on the bed staring at the floor.

"Tasha? What's going on?" He said coming to sit beside her. He turned her towards him gently and took her hand in his, she was shaking gently. Still she wouldn't say anything and she wouldn't look at him.

"Uhh, a little worried over here." He said trying to draw her out. Suddenly her head shot up to look at him.

"I have to tell you something, I've been trying to tell you this for days now but I just couldn't find the time or the guts…oh man…" She said looking away for a second, the sudden boldness she had found had left her just as suddenly.

She took a deep breath… as he looked at her expectantly….

"Your guests have arrived in the garage. Shall I let them in Sir?" The intercom said. Clint sighed, perfect timing.

"Yes thank you Jasper" Tony had convinced him during the construction of the house that every home should have a Jarvis so they created Jasper, Jarvis' American half brother as Natasha liked to call him.

"I'm sorry Nat, do you think it will keep for just a little longer?" He said sincerely concerned by her behaviour.

She shrugged and put on her best fake smile which of course he saw through immediately but knew enough of her to play along.

"Of course it can, don't worry…" She got up and rubbed her face, "let's go greet our guests." She said cheerfully as she kissed his cheek and left the room.

He shook his head and followed her - this didn't look so good he thought to himself.

**More to come…I hope you like where this is going! **


	6. Chapter 6

**Sorry for the delay but this is the longest chapter yet and the action is hard to write hence why it's so long! Thanks so much for your reviews…**

Natasha took several plates over to the sink as Clint brought the empty coffee cups leaving the rest of their party to their lively debate as to what was better, guitar hero or Mario Cart.

As he came up behind her he noticed her dumping the full contents of her wine glass down the sink quickly as she rinsed the plates.

"Why aren't you drinking?" He whispered to her as she jumped slightly glancing at him in a little annoyance.

"I don't feel like it ok alcohol police?" She said defensively and he rolled his eyes taking a step back from her, recognising a 'step away from me' when he saw it.

"Okay guys you want the full tour now?" He said clapping his hands together.

Natasha loaded the dishwasher as Clint took the avengers on a tour of their new home. It had several levels accessible by stairs or an elevator, it had a fully equipped gym, complete with sparring ring (of course) and a large swimming pool which had been installed especially for Natasha who loved to swim after missions.

Pepper sat up on the counter as she watched Natasha fuss around the kitchen.

"This place is incredible, I cannot believe that Clint managed to make sure Tony kept his mouth shut about it for so long." Pepper said, amused.

"Yeah well the threat of an arrow will always do that I guess!" Natasha said as she closed the door of the dishwasher and it gently whirred into life.

"It's pretty cool how all the power and such is self contained." Pepper thought out loud

"I think if Clint had really gotten his way there would have been a moat of hot lava around the place too." Natasha said smiling as the guys returned from their tour.

"This is really great Clint, really," said Bruce ringing his hands together.

As Clint began to speak Tony cut in saying "well yeah thanks I do believe that my ideas where…" he stopped looking at Clint's narrowed eyes.

"I'm sorry, I have issues…" Tony said looking at the floor.

"Thanks for coming all of you really, and you're welcome here anytime obviously." Clint said being the gracious host as they made a move to leave.

Then there was the usual procession of manly hugs, handshakes, kisses for Pepper and Natasha and of course a gentlemanly bow from Thor just for good measure as they all left. Natasha went back to the kitchen to finish cleaning up. Clint was silently watching her until Jasper confirmed they had left the perimeter which he then armed for intruders.

"So…you're pregnant?" Clint said as Natasha stopped what she was doing and spun around to face him.

She nodded at him and hung her head. "I'm sorry.." she said softly. His expression changed at her words and he went to her putting his arms around her. She struggled at little bit but eventually let him hold her.

"Why would you be sorry?" he said holding her tightly.

"Well it's not exactly something we planned is it?" She said into his chest.

"No.. but it's definitely something I want." Clint said firmly pulling back from her slightly to look into her eyes.

"Really?" She said incredulously as if she couldn't believe anyone would want her even after everything.

"Of course - in fact, I think we should get married." He said impulsively and she threw her head back with laughter.

"Oh sure, yeah." She said slightly mocking him until he dropped to one knee taking her hand as if to prove just how serious he actually was.

She looked at him with soft eyes and said, "Clint you don't have to do this just because I'm pregnant you know, it's not the 50s." she reassured him.

"I know that - if this was just an impulse then I guess I wouldn't have one of these.." he said pulling a small red velvet pouch from his pocket and offering it to her.

Her eyes widened at the sight of the beautiful diamond solitaire ring inside of the pouch.

"If I was going to show you the receipt I have for this ring you would realise I bought it a few months ago." He said triumphantly as she stared at him open-mouthed.

"I was trying to find the right time, right moment and plan this whole elaborate thing but you know looking at you now, knowing you're carrying my child - none of that really seems important. I feel like I should just tell you what's in my heart. You are the only person I have ever loved and I will love you forever - now our love has made this little person," (he said placing his hands on her still flat stomach) "and I know that my love for you is only going to grow stronger." He said, his heartfelt words bringing tears to her eyes once again.

"That was so beautiful - my answer is yes." She said kneeling down to his level and kissing him urgently before pulling back to look at him seriously.

"There's something else I need to say. I refuse to fail as a mother Clint, I won't let this child think for one second that I neglected it or doubt my love. So I have to leave SHIELD - if Fury will let me. The Avengers, obviously, are different but this life isn't something I want our child to be caught up in or become a victim of." She said firmly. She wanted everything to be different now, as normal as it could be for their child - the most precious child in the world.

Clint nodded acknowledging her and then he said something she never expected. "I feel the same Tasha, I can't be away from you and our baby knowing how much is at stake. We'll talk to him together ok?"

She kissed him again as he picked her up, her legs locking around his waist as he carried her away.

She woke later to see him packing his mission bag. She sat up in their bed and watched him for a second,

"What's going on?" She asked.

"I'm sorry baby I've been called in. Not sure what it is yet but it's come directly from Fury apparently, highest priority." He said as he stuffed the last item into his bag before zipping it up.

He moved around the bed to her and sat down, taking her hand.

"While I'm gone I want you to go back to the tower and stay alright? I need to know you're safe while I'm gone, especially since I don't know how long I'll be away." She rolled her eyes and looked away but he cupped her cheek with his hand gently bringing her face back to look at him.

"Hey, I know we need to talk to Fury but I promise we'll do it once I'm back ok?"

"That's not why I'm pissed, don't treat me differently now that I'm knocked up." She said frowning.

He chuckled softly, "Well I'm sorry but I'm afraid I have to. You are the most precious thing in my life and I have to know you're safe if I'm going to concentrate on this mission. Now don't make it a thing, for once let me be the guy and worry about you?" He said looking into her eyes.

She softened and reached out to hug him, needing that contact with him to say what she was feeling. He rubbed her back soothingly before laying her back down and tucking her in as she smiled at him.

"Now go back to sleep and promise me you'll drive back to the city first thing in the morning." He said as he kissed her hand.

"I promise you." She said reluctantly. Her reward was a warm kiss from Clint before he left the room gazing at her longingly before closing the door. As he drove away he hoped it wouldn't be too long before he saw her again.

Natasha rode the elevator to her floor and got off to silence. It was still pretty early in the morning so she planned to stow her gear and join the others for breakfast.

She entered the code to her room and opened the door.

"Lights please Jarvis" She requested as her eyes came to rest on her bed. She smiled and blinked furiously to avoid letting any tears fall as there, on the bed, was a single rose and a faded T-Shirt belonging to Clint.

She shook her head at his sentimental gesture - he really was the girl of the relationship…

That night she slipped into his t-shirt breathing in his scent as she lay down to sleep. Her hands came to her stomach still not quite able to believe there was a baby in there and so instead of her customary tears she went to sleep thinking about what their future might be together.

"Hill, be straight with me, how bad is it?"

The brunette sighed and looked up from her screen, "Basically it's turned into a complete and utter clusterfuck." Hill said plainly.

Natasha stood in SHEILD's Command Centre with Hill and Nick Fury as news filtered in regarding Clint's mission. Natasha had been summoned there in the middle of the night to be told that some intel had been leaked and the supposedly friendly contact Clint was hooking up with was actually working for the enemy.

They'd received no radio contact from him in some time and it was safe to assume he'd been captured by the person he was trying to take out. A German arms dealer named Geiger. Clint's mission brief had been to take him out as he left a meeting in Berlin but now they had satellite photos showing an unconscious Barton being shoved into a car and taken to a high security compound outside the city.

Hill had shown the photos to Natasha as part of the briefing and she had never had such a strong urge to be sick in her life.

She had waited patiently to speak to Fury who had been talking with two other agents and now she was through being patient.

"Sir? When am I going in?" She said to him plainly.

"You're not just yet Agent Romanoff - the best thing would be to go back to the tower and wait for further intel.."

"Excuse me sir but are you referring to the intel which placed Agent Barton in harm's way? Because if it's all the same to you I'd rather go in blind than on bad intelligence." She said coolly.

"You are way out of line Agent. I know he's your partner but I cannot risk putting another Agent in the field without having an idea of what they're going into. We don't know anything about this compound or what's in there. How can I send you in there for Barton when for all we know he could already be dead."

Natasha shoved all of her emotion away as hard as she could. She was not even going to entertain that notion even though she had to admit it was viable.

"Then I will return to the tower and await further instruction, thank you Sir. Agent Hill." She nodded an acknowledgement at her fellow agent and did not wait to be dismissed before leaving the room.

Fury gave Hill a look that said uh oh as he watched the door close behind her. Natasha hurried to the elevator and brought out her cell phone. Pressing one button she was connected to the tower immediately.

"Jarvis, please have everyone assemble in the common area immediately, Agent Barton's in trouble."

After Natasha had explained what had happened to her assembled colleagues she was met with a flurry of questions and hushed them with her hands.

"Ok guys that's literally all SHIELD knows. Stark, do you have any leads on this Geiger?" She turned to Tony who was perched on the edge of the sofa.

"Yeah I know the guy, outbid him on a few defence contracts back in the day and he was not greatly impressed. He's a little bit of a psycho and then some."

"That's good, we can work with that." She said pacing back and forth in front of them.

"Uh, how's that good?" Bruce said nervously after raising his hand.

"Because the good thing about psycho's is that their weakness is generally…that they are psycho's." She said plainly.

"Listen, I'm going to Germany to get him back thus pretty much marking my card with Fury this time. If any of you want to sit this one out I would completely understand." She said waiting for any further comments from the team.

Thor stood up, "if Barton was here, I doubt very much he'd be afraid of the task ahead. I'm in, of course."

Bruce and Steve nodded their approval as Stark stood up. "Well I guess I'm in because, let's face it you need my intel, my toys and the awesome lethality that is.. Iron Man. Let's suit up, meet back here in 30 minutes for wheels up, we'll formulate a plan on the way."

Everyone nodded and went to disperse.

"Guys…thank you." Natasha said sincerely as they all nodded at her.

"Come on Agent Barton, all I want are a few names. I know you are conditioned to withstand this pain but you know I might keep going indefinitely just for the hell of it. Sooner or later everyone talks."

Clint was groggy and disorientated. He had smelt a rat in this mission from the start and had resolved to kill the mark and get out of there by his own means as he felt SHIELD's had been compromised.

As he waited on the opposite rooftop to wait for his mark, crouched in readiness with his bow drawn he felt a sharp pain in his neck. As he blacked out he realised he'd been shot by a tranquiliser dart.

The next hour or so were blurs of him being bundled into a car, where he drifted in an out of consciousness, and was finally transported to what seemed like some kind of military compound, heavily fortified on the outskirts of town.

In his current condition he had no chance of overpowering his guards and particularly as he appeared to have a large metal spike lodged in his side which the guard took great delight in twisting periodically in an attempt to extract information about the rest of the Avenger's whereabouts. The whole operation had been a ruse by this Geiger to gain information about this unique group to be used to his advantage.

"I told you, I don't know who they are, I only met them the once and you can kiss my ass if you think I'm telling you anything." He said laughing knowing for the most part he held all the cards, except for the torture thing.

The guard left muttering something in German giving Clint a chance to lie back and assess his current situation. The wound in his side was oozing, although he didn't think it had hit any major arteries or organs he was sure loosing a lot of blood which he thought to himself could be a problem if he wanted to, you know, not die.

He closed his eyes and pictured her face looking up at him as he felt unconsciousness coming over him again. Man was she going to be pissed….

On the plane, a few minutes out from their destination the rest of the Avengers had formulated a plan, it wasn't very scientific but it was pretty much just shock and awe, grab Clint, more shock and awe.

Natasha sat alone and tapped her foot impatiently clad in her black mission suit. Tony slid over to speak to Bruce in a hushed tone of voice.

"Listen man, she looks a little unglued. I need you to promise me something. If things go bad in there, I mean if it's already too late for Barton, we can't let her go loco. One of us has to get her up and out of there. We can deal with the fall out later."

Bruce nodded understanding what he was driving at, "I think the 'Other Guy' should be able to handle that."

The pilot announced that they were about to reach the drop zone. The helicopter flew in a few feet off the ground as they all jumped off about a mile away from the compound.

They made their way silently through to the woods to the perimeter fence before separating. Natasha crouched down and cut a small enough hole in the fence for herself to slide through. Then she slithered across the ground and put her back to the wall, drawing her gun.

"Ok everyone, all kinds of hell about to break loose in 10 seconds…" Tony announced over comms.

Natasha took a deep breath as her thoughts turned to her baby. She closed her eyes momentarily apologising to it for any harm she was causing it. "I have to get your Daddy back…trust me."

"1..." BOOOM! Natasha ducked as bits of wall flew past her and the guards started to go bat shit around her. When the dust cleared Stark had blown her a nice sized hole in the wall for her to crawl through and she did just that into a storage room. She opened the door the tiniest bit to peer outside and observed guards running up and down shouting commands.

She wasn't great at German but it seemed to be something along the lines of intruders, perimeter breach etc.

"Alright Black Widow, our guy is being held 4 rooms down on your left, 2 guards with him, one outside the room all armed with what look to be nothing bigger than 9mm.

"Copy that Stark, on my way. Captain?" Steve was making his way through the guards in an adjacent part of the building with Thor and the Hulk pretty much laying the place to waste.

"Rolling to you Black Widow, we've got you covered." Steve confirmed.

Natasha threw open the door and took off running towards Clint's room.

The guard outside saw her coming and drew his gun but before he could fire she threw a small knife at him hitting him in the knee, then she leaped onto him and broke his neck with her bare hands.

There was a commotion inside the room and the door flew open along with a hail of gunfire aimed at her. She stood to the side letting them run out of ammo and then one came out only to be thrown to the ground by Natasha who shot him in the head for good measure.

She peered into the room and saw the other guard holding a knife to a still unconscious Clint's throat.

"Move and he's dead," the guard threatened.

"I don't think so." said Natasha shooting the guard in the knee who cried out in agony dripping Clint back onto the table he was tied to.

Natasha holstered her gun and kicked the guard's weapon away. Then she took up his knife and stood behind him holding it to his throat.

"Look at him.." She commanded as he struggled. "That man is going home with us and he is going to be the last thing you ever see." She said venomously as she slowly slit his throat and pushed him to the floor.

She dropped the knife and breathed heavily. "I have Barton, I need some help to get him out." She said into her comms.

"On our way." Steve said back.

"Clint!" His eyes opened and shut as he came to and there was the Black Widow. He mumbled incoherently as she impatiently shook him. Giving in she slapped him hard across the face.

"Ahh, ok, ok." He said waking up a little more and coming to his senses. "What are you doing here? Are you nuts?" He said totally relieved to see her yet really pissed at her.

"You're welcome by the way, oh jeez is this bad?" She said gesturing to his side as she untied him.

"I don't think so." He said wincing as he pulled the spike out slowly, throwing it to the ground. As she watched him do it she wanted so badly for him to hold her, to kiss her but they weren't safe yet. They still had to get out of there.

She helped him up to stand as he breathed through the pain and slung an arm around her shoulders. She took the dead guard's gun and extra ammo giving it to Clint as she left him against the wall to check the hallway. He heard a lot of commotion outside and wondered if he could summon the strength to shoot his way out of there.

"How are we gonna get out of here?" He said to her, she turned to him with a smile.

"I brought some friends…" she said. He smiled knowing who she meant and heard crashing coming in their direction.

"In here!" she shouted into the hallway and stood in front of Clint to shield him. Suddenly he saw a flash of green as the Hulk made a new exit for them in the wall.

"Nice.." Thor and Captain Rodgers followed taking Clint by each arm. He was reluctant to go with them as now he couldn't see Natasha.

"She is right behind us my friend, Stark is still in there as well. I will return to help her but now we must get you to safety." Said Thor in a commanding voice.

Still somewhat reluctant to leave her in there but unable to struggle against them Clint found himself being dragged out through the whole left by the Hulk towards a waiting plane. All the while he heard shouting, gunfire and the sound of explosions coming from the compound.

Steve laid him back against the bunk covering him with a blanket and restraining him as he tried to get up.

"You have to let me go back there for her you don't understand.." he said weakly.

Thor jumped back out of the plane and ran back to help the others. Steve shielded his eyes after a somewhat naked Bruce Banner had just boarded the plane looking a little dirty.

"You are no use to her like this, let her deal with it, she'll be ok. She can handle it" Steve said soothingly.

"No Cap please, you don't understand…she's pregnant. Please go and get her." The Captain and Bruce's astonished faces watched Clint's anguish as he finally passed out from the pain and blood loss.

Bruce had shrugged into a flight jumpsuit and was now setting out medical supplies, he looked up at a still stunned Steve and said, "Go and get her, I'll see to him.."

The Captain had jumped from the plane before Bruce had even finished his sentence. He went to work setting up an IV for Clint trying to process the magnitude and possible repercussions of Natasha's decision to come after him.

His thoughts turned back to the one woman that he would have moved heaven and earth for her, now lost to him forever.

The Captain found Natasha battling with several armed guards that he helped her take out, "Come on, we're out of here right now." he said taking his life in his hands by grabbing her arm.

"No I have to get Clint's bow back, " She said forging ahead and shaking out of his grasp.

"You are kidding me, forget the bow and let's go!" Thor slid into the room breathlessly, "We must flee this place, there are too many of them. Stark has ordered an air strike and it will be here any moment."

Still Natasha tried to surge forward and Steve couldn't take it anymore. Knowing that Thor was a lot stronger than even he was he ordered, "Thor, throw Natasha over your shoulder and put her on that plane right now!"

"Wha…" Natasha stared at him in disbelief when she was suddenly turned up side down and found herself looking at Thor's ass as he sprinted towards the plane with the Captain following close behind.

"Missiles in bound, is everyone clear?" Stark said over comms.

"All clear and on board, we'll see you back at the ground station Stark." the Captain replied as the back door of the aeroplane shut behind him.

Thor put Natasha down only to be thanked by a strong right hook.

"Don't you EVER do that again." she said, eyes flashing with rage.

"That's what happens when you're not straight with us Natasha, Clint told us about the baby and he asked us to get you out of there." Steve said a little more harshly than he had intended as her mouth fell open at his revelation.

"We'll be at the field hospital in 20 minutes." He said a little more quietly sitting down beside Thor who was rubbing his jaw.

Natasha knelt beside Clint taking up his hand as Bruce took his blood pressure. She looked up at him silently asking how he was.

"He's ok for now, everything's holding steady. I've given him some morphine for the journey and then we'll get a better look when we reach the hospital. I don't think any of his organs were damaged but he's lost a lot of blood. He needs a transfusion sooner than later, do you know his blood type?

"It's A positive," she said quietly. Bruce nodded and got up to speak to the pilot. They needed to call ahead and make sure the blood was ready as soon as they arrived.

Natasha lifted his bruised knuckles to her lips and kissed them softly. "You better not leave me now Barton, not now…" she buried her head on his chest and began to sob quietly letting all of the emotions of the past 24 hours soak the front of his suit.

Thor nudged the Captain, having missed an important part of the conversation and whispered, "She is with child?"

The Captain nodded and looked back at her with pity.

"She is a strong warrior indeed." Thor said with admiration.

**Hope you like it and that I did ok with the action scenes….I think one or two more chapters will bring us to a good conclusion.**


	7. Chapter 7

**Thanks again for the encouragement! Sorry it's taken me so long to get this chapter up but I wasn't really sure how to progress the story after the last chapter. Hope you enjoy!**

They made a strange group sitting in the waiting room of the field hospital together. Thor was slumped in his chair snoring softly, his head resting on his hammer. Steve Rodgers sat next to him, constantly changing position in his chair restlessly. Tony Stark was pacing up and down with a cup of coffee, tapping away on his phone.

Natasha was sitting in the corner, with her knees up to her chin - her tears stained her face but she was past the point of caring. There was no one in this room she would be ashamed to cry in front of after all they had been through together. She looked up at the double doors of the operating theatre and sighed for the billionth time since she watched the medical team wheel Clint through them several hours ago.

She was more afraid than she'd ever been in her whole life, the only other time she had felt fear even close to this was when she realised that she loved Clint Barton. What was happening beyond those doors now would seal both of their fates. The only traffic in and out of that door had been a nurse going out several times and coming back with more blood. She wasn't an expert but she was guessing that wasn't a great sign.

Another door opened and Bruce Banner came through it walking straight over to Natasha and sitting beside her,

"Have you heard anything?" She asked him putting her feet on the floor and turning to face him.

"No, not yet, he lost a lot of blood you know Natasha, they're probably having a hard time stabilising him plus we still don't know what they used to drug him yet so that's not making things any easier." Bruce explained to her, daring to lightly touch her arm for a moment in an attempt to reassure her.

The gesture went unnoticed as she returned her gaze to the doors.

"I need you to come with me for a while," Bruce said standing up. She shook her head and continued to stare at the doors saying, "No I have to be here in case anything happens."

"Natasha, there's nothing you can do for him right now but there is something you can do for yourself and that baby." He said plainly as she looked at him reluctantly.

He held his hand out to help her up and she accepted glancing back at the doors. "We'll only be in another room and one of the guys can come and get us if anything changes, right?" He said including the others in their conversation.

Stark and Steve nodded but Thor remained asleep as Bruce and Natasha went into another examination room.

"What we should be doing is a full work up on you but for now I'll be happy with an ultrasound. Take this gown, you can use that screen."

As Natasha changed into the gown she felt like she was going to be sick. It hadn't been the most maternal of things to do, involving your baby in a dangerous rescue mission but she had to do it, he would have done the same for her and there was no way she was losing him, ever.

She settled down on the exam table and Bruce motioned for her to bare her stomach. As she did so he squeezed a sort of gel on it as she gasped at it's coolness.

"Sorry, I forgot to tell you that would be cold. I'm a little out of practise." He said nervously. She gave him a wry smile as he started to spread the gel over her abdomen using a probe.

She looked away from the screen to the wall, afraid that he was going to tell her that what she'd done had harmed the baby or worse.

"Natasha, there's the heartbeat." Bruce said with a smile as she looked back at him and then to the screen. The relief on her face overwhelmed him as he witnessed this wonderful moment.

"You mean it's ok?" She said incredulously, "Oh yeah, everything looks good. You want to hear?"

He pressed a few buttons on the machine and a steady watery sounding beat filled the small room as Natasha's eyes filled with tears.

"That's it? Is it supposed to be so fast?" She whispered swallowing hard.

Bruce nodded, "Fast and strong, just what I'd expect from a child of yours and Clint's." He said to her as he put the probe back in it's holster on the machine.

He tore off some paper towels and gave them to her to wipe the gel from her stomach as she sat up.

"When we get back to New York you should still see an OBGYN and get completely checked out. You've been under a huge amount of stress the last day or so and you need to take it easy." He warned her.

She nodded as she went to get dressed again.

"I'll leave you to it." He said, opening the door.

"Bruce?" She said from behind the screen, "Yeah?"

"Thank you….for everything." She said still behind the screen. "I'll never forget what you guys did for us tonight." Her voice cracking.

He smiled, "That's what friends are for right?" With that he left the room.

She zipped up her suit and sighed to herself. She wouldn't know. She only ever had one friend until a little while ago…

Clint regained consciousness slowly, opening and closing his eyes and blinking hard trying to focus on his surroundings. It smelled like a hospital that was for sure but there was another scent in the room that he knew. He realised someone was holding his hand and when he blinked again he saw a bundle of red hair resting on his thigh. He could hear her breathing steadily, she was asleep and the rest of her body was bent in the most uncomfortable position he'd ever seen. Half on the bed, half on a chair.

When he made a move his entire body pretty much said NO. He observed an IV going into his arm and he was hooked up to all kinds of machines and wires. He also had an overwhelming urge to pee and that's when he realised that he was definitely in a hospital, he was peeing into a bag. Well, shit, this is a story for the grandkids, he thought to himself looking up at the ceiling.

He shifted his leg a little bit which seemed to cause him less pain than moving his arm right now and he watched her wake up slowly, squeezing her hand. As she looked at him and saw that he was awake she hung her head and started to sob softly.

"Come here," He said dryly as she scooted up the bed to awkwardly hug him. He winced in pain but he'd suffer it, for her alone.

"I was so scared you jerk, don't ever do that again!" She said angrily as he thought to himself how utterly beautiful she was before him.

"Why are you smiling at me I'm so mad at you!" She said half smiling herself and then relenting as she reigned soft kisses all over his face finally pressing her lips to his.

When she broke the kiss she could see the pain on his face and searched around the bed until she produced what looked to him like a panic button.

"Here you're supposed to press this if you're in pain, it's morphine I think." She said putting it in his hand.

He held it but didn't press it, "It's going to knock me out again and I want to be with you a little longer," He said.

"Don't be an idiot, I'll still be here when you wake up I promise." She said.

"Did you talk to Fury?" He asked her as she looked away from him sheepishly.

"Yes, he's well um…not so happy with us."

"How come, didn't he send you guys for me?" Clint asked her frowning.

All she did was shake her head at him and he rolled his eyes in despair. "Natasha you took a terrible chance coming for me like that."

"Well who else would I take that kind of chance for but you! I don't want to be a single parent you know!" She said, slightly mad at him for thinking for even a second that she wouldn't come for him.

He softened looking at her with concern, "About that…are you okay? Is everything okay?" He asked meaning her and the baby.

"Everything's fine, in fact…" She moved away from him a little bit to take something out of her pocket, handing it to him.

"I know it doesn't look like much just yet but….oh Clint, I heard it's heart beating and it was amazing." She said wiping away a tear as she watched him take in the image from the ultrasound that Bruce had taken for them.

His eyes filled with tears as he pulled her to him, "You heard it's heart?" He said, a little disappointed.

"You will too, when we go back to New York. So now you have to push that button and take your medicine like a good boy because I need you fighting fit as soon as possible Mr Barton." Natasha commanded like a good nurse, taking the photo from him and setting it on the table beside them.

"Okay I'll push it but you have to do something for me too." He slowly shifted over in the bed wincing in pain and gritting his teeth at the effort it required.

"Come and sleep next to me babe, you're exhausted and I don't want to see you in that kind of awkward position again..unless I've put you there." He said winking at her weakly.

She smiled at him and obliged, carefully settling down next to his injured side as he put an arm around her. He pressed the button letting it drop beside him. As sleep overcame him he planted a soft kiss on the top of her head and rested his hand on her stomach.

"So, either one of you have anything to say to me?" Nick Fury asked as he observed his two best agents lying on a hospital bed in each other's arms.

Clint and Natasha awoke to see the Director of SHIELD standing over them with his arms folded and he did not look happy.

**A short chapter for now…**


	8. Chapter 8

**Thanks guys, I'm really loving writing this story and getting the reviews I'm getting from you all - you are indeed the best! :D**

"Sir, if I can explain…" Natasha said slowly getting up.

"Oh please do, Agent Romaoff, please do. I was just thinking that if this field hospital had a psych ward I should just go ahead and check myself into it. It's the strangest thing I thought I saw two of my best agents in bed together. Stranger still since one of them should not even be here!" Nick Fury said as he stood at the foot of Clint's hospital bed.

He was mad and he didn't even know the half of it…

"Sir I completely stand by my decision to come here for Agent Barton. As I advised you before I believed waiting for further intel which may still have been flawed was a mistake and I knew it would likely cost him his life. Barton's my partner and I knew he would have done the same for me. I would say that I'm sorry for disobeying your orders but you'd know that was a lie. However, I am sorry for disrespecting you." Natasha said as she looked Fury dead in the eye.

Clint watched her, loving her even more than he already did for the way she stood up for herself. He tried to sit up a little bit to see Fury better.

"Sir, I should take some share of this blame, if I hadn't have let Geiger's men get the drop on me Romanoff would never have had to make that decision." Clint said weakly.

Fury paced up and down with his hands behind his back. They both knew what that meant and slightly shrank from him, waiting for the storm.

"Quite apart from the fact that you disobeyed a direct order, Agent Romanoff you also enlisted the initiative to come with you. That is exactly why everyone is so afraid of them! They can't just pick and choose missions, going half way around the world blowing whatever shit up they want to!" Fury said gesturing wildly with his hands.

"I apologise for bringing them into this Sir, it was completely my fault." Natasha said trying to spare her friends any fall out from this.

"Well that's not what they told me!" Fury said as Natasha and Clint looked at each other.

"They said that you gave them every chance to say no and they all came of their own free will. So now what have you got to say?" Fury said triumphantly.

"That's very kind of them…." Natasha began.

"And what the hell is going on between the two of you? Like I have to ask, it's pretty god damn obvious that you're partners in more ways than one." Well, since he's going to hit us with that, nothing could make matters any worse, Clint thought.

"That's right Sir, in fact - I'm pregnant." Natasha blurted out and Clint nearly passed out.

Nick Fury, Director of SHIELD, looked like he was going to explode.

"YOU ARE WHAT?" Bruce, Steve, Thor and Tony all jumped from their huddled positions outside the door of Clint's hospital room in shock at Fury's sudden outburst.

"Oh no she didn't…" Tony said leaning in to hear more.

Fury sat down in the chair in the corner of the room and looked at the floor. Clint began to speak but Fury held his hand up.

"I'm just going to sit here for a minute so don't say a god damn thing either one of you!"

Natasha thought he was going to send them both to opposite ends of the universe for what she'd just said. She gave up and sat down on the bed beside Clint. He touched her back lightly trying to reassure her that it didn't matter what he said next.

For at least 5 minutes the silence hung over Clint and Natasha like a dark cloud of doom until Fury lifted his head and spoke.

"So, you want out Romanoff?"

Natasha nodded silently, preferring to wait for him to elaborate on his train of thought. "What about you Barton?"

"Me too Sir, I want to be a good father and being an Agent of SHIELD will not guarantee that." Clint spoke with conviction as Natasha let a small smile escape her lips.

Furry nodded slowly. "What about the Initiative?" He asked them both.

"That's different Sir, we still want to be involved. I know it will be hard at times but I think we've earned our place there." Natasha said confidently.

"Oh do you Agent Romanoff? Do you think that I can let you both go from SHIELD and still convince the Council that you should be part of the Initiative?" Fury said despairingly.

Natasha started to feel her heart sink. SHIELD could kiss her ass but the Avengers were different, they were more than just colleagues, they were a family. For the first time in her life she felt part of a valuable team and to lose that would be terrible.

Fury turned away folding his arms and sighing. Looking up at the ceiling he said,

"Perhaps the fact that your colleagues in the Initiative have flatly refused to participate in any further missions should you both be withdrawn from the project _might_ sway the Council into seeing things my way."

Clint smiled to himself, those bastards may have just saved our bacon here.

Fury turned to look at them both, "We'll just have to see. From here on out you are both on medical leave until further notice. I'll be in touch." He opened the door to find the others scattering quickly pretending they weren't eavesdropping. Shaking his head muttering something about children he strode away.

Tony stuck his head around the door, "I think the old coot likes you guys, I damn near cried he was being so sweet!"

Barton smiled and took Natasha's hand, "Can we get the hell out of here now please?"

48 hours later they were back in the tower where Clint could still be monitored by Bruce and his team to make sure his recovery was progressing well. Cue much fussing around him by Natasha and Pepper as he kept to his bed mostly with his room becoming the Initiative's common room, where everyone gathered most days and nights to eat and relax.

Over the next two weeks that's the way things went with him getting a little stronger and a little better everyday much to Natasha's relief. She worked very hard on pushing the image of him on that table, unconscious the way she'd found him in Germany out of her mind.

Finally they were both summoned to SHIELD to meet Fury and find out their fates. As they sat at the table waiting for Fury, Clint went over lists in his head. He had decided straight away that if this meeting didn't go the way it was supposed to he would take Natasha and run. Now obviously that wasn't the smartest plan with a baby on the way but he wasn't about to let that one eyed bastard come between them and the fresh start, the clean slate they had longed for.

Fury walked into the room and sat down opposite them clasping his hands together as he began. "Well as usual my powers of persuasion fell on deaf ears. The Council agreed to release you from SHIELD but they told me that you may no longer participate in the Avengers Initiative." Nick Fury said plainly.

Natasha showed no emotion as Clint puffed out a breath. They looked at each other and rose from their seats to leave with silent acceptance.

"However…." Fury added as they froze to the spot. "After the intervention of Stark, Banner, Rodgers and Thor - the council were persuaded otherwise. So sit down."

Like obedient children they sat down, in somewhat of a daze as to what just happened.

"Now, obviously this is a unique situation with your, um, condition Romanoff. You will have access to SHIELD resources without being part of SHIELD therefore I'm sorry to say you will become a little like Stark." Fury said with the faintest of smiles.

"I guess we'll have to play a lot of this by ear but for now, that's it." Fury got up to leave and Natasha flew out of her chair on impulse and stopped him as he reached the door.

"Sir, I guess if I was still an Agent of SHIELD you could hang me out to dry for what I'm about to do but since I'm not…" Fury looked confused as Natasha reached up on her tiptoes and planted a small kiss on his cheek.

She took a step back from him and smiled at him, "Thank you Sir."

Clint chuckled to himself at the look on Fury's face as the Director of SHIELD left the room in a flustered mess.

Natasha sighed and threw her hands up exclaiming, "We're free! Let's get out of here!"

As they walked down the street Clint draped his arm casually around Natasha's shoulders and she leaned into him. She couldn't adequately put into words how amazing she felt. Here she was unemployed for the first time in her life, pregnant and the most amazing thing of all time, she was engaged to be married to her best friend in the whole world.

She stopped walking suddenly as Clint turned to look at her questioningly.

"What would you have done if that meeting had gone South?" she asked him out of the blue.

He sighed and took her hand, "I was going to bundle you into a car and drive til we ran out of gas. No way was I letting the Council decide the rest of our lives for us."

She chuckled at his statement and he felt his chest tighten at the sight of her whole face lighting up. It so rarely did and he loved to see it. It had been a painfully slow process but he had dragged this side of her personality kicking and screaming to the surface from where it had been locked away for so many years.

He was proud of that, proud of her - she could call him a girl all she liked but she was starting to act like one and he loved her for it.

"You were making plans to run away - I was making plans to get married." She said surprising him. He looked puzzled as she continued.

"This morning I was talking to Pepper and she asked me what I just asked you - what would I do if it all went to Hell?" Natasha stepped towards Clint and wrapped her arms around his neck, his arms came around her waist as their surroundings fell away.

"I told her I wanted to be Mrs Barton as soon as possible. I mean I know you already asked me and I already said yes but now I want to ask you something. Would you marry me today?" He smiled at her before capturing her lips with his own savouring her sweet taste before pulling away from her slightly.

"It would be my honour." He said firmly looking deep into her eyes. She squealed and jumped up into his arms as he lifted her off the ground and spun her round. Now people were looking at them but neither of them cared….they were getting married.

"Let's go back to the tower and get changed. I might not be ready for some big foofy dress but I refuse to get married in jeans." She said winking at him as she pulled him on with her.

As Clint slipped on his dress jacket he felt a little nervous as he looked in the mirror. He was wearing a simple black suit with a crisp white shirt and no tie. He checked his pockets nervously as he checked his reflection again.

"Mr Barton?" Jarvis's voice rang around the room and he nearly jumped out of his skin.

"Yeah Jarvis." He said taking a few deep breaths.

"Miss Romanoff asked that you meet her in the lobby in half an hour and she said that you need to find two witnesses."

"Witnesses?" He said before realising why. "Jarvis who else is here right now?"

"Mr Stark and Miss Potts left for Washington DC an hour ago but Dr Banner and Captain Rodgers are in the living area watching television."

"Thanks Jarvis." called Clint as he walked the short distance to the living area to find his two friends sprawled on the couch staring at the television. He sighed and walked over to the set, switching it off.

"Hey! Don't make me get the Other Guy." Bruce said frowning.

"You guys have exactly twenty minutes for a shit, shower and shave, get going." Clint said rubbing his hands together and looking at their bemused faces.

He rolled his eyes. "Natasha and I need you to come to City Hall with us and witness our marriage…now let's go, hustle!"

The men's expressions went from bemused to shocked in the space of a few seconds but never the less they were up and moving.

The three men waited for Natasha and Clint began to get nervous, his mouth was dry and he was sweating just a little at the thought of what was about to happen. Not that he was scared of being with Natasha, he wasn't, but he was about to take on responsibilities he'd never dreamed of and he hoped he was up to the challenge.

"Ahh, our witnesses." Natasha said as she stepped out of the elevator. "Hi guys, thanks for doing this."

Clint's fears melted away in her presence. She was wearing a pretty purple chiffon dress which stopped just below her knees and swayed with her hips when she walked. To his surprise she'd gathered her hair up in some way that he'd have to ask her what it was officially called but little tendrils of red curls framed her face as she smiled at him.

The group began to move towards the door when Steve stopped them. "Oh hey wait, do you have something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue?"

Natasha stared at him trying not to laugh at the serious look on his face.

"Hey it's not just tradition it's a good luck charm." He said defending his outburst.

"Well, I haven't worn this dress before so that's new….um.." She said trying to think.

Bruce stepped forward and took off his watch handing it to Natasha. "Here you can wear this for something old and borrowed. I'm afraid I can't help you with the blue, I only deal in green." He said jokingly. Natasha smiled as she put the watch on her wrist.

"Okay so something blue then?" Clint said impatiently.

"Oh I've got it, wait here for two seconds." Steve said sprinting outside.

Clint rolled his eyes, "Oh Jeez, we're gonna be late…" He said beginning to pace. Natasha laughed softly and took his hand squeezing it in hers.

"Let him go, he's being nice." She reminded Clint as he realised she was right and relaxed a little.

Steve came back inside with a small blue flower in his hand and gave it to Natasha. "There's a woman selling these across the street, will it go with your outfit?" He said quietly.

She took it from him and placed it in the clip holding her hair up. "How about that?" She said, "Thank you Steve."

"Okay let's go, let's go!" Clint rushed them all out of the door as Bruce laughed at his nervousness.

Less than an hour later they were man and wife and having dinner with their witnesses in a small café. Natasha touched her new wedding ring and smiled to herself as the men talked about the food and how Thor would have liked it.

"Well guys we're going to leave you to it." Steve said getting up. Natasha and Clint looked confused when he handed them an envelope from his jacket pocket.

"That's from Pepper and Tony for you. See you later." Steve said with Bruce adding his congratulations as they left the café.

Clint opened the envelope and read aloud.

"Dear Clint and Natasha, we're so pleased for you both and wish we were there to celebrate with you. We'll have a party when we get back but for now you should head to your honeymoon suite, in the Plaza. It's all booked under the name of Mr and Mrs Shield (a little joke from Tony). We've arranged for some things of yours to be sent over. We'll see you tomorrow. Love Pepper…and Tony of course."

Natasha's eyes widened at the mention of the Plaza, she had always wanted to stay there. Clint folded the letter up and put it in his pocket.

"Awesome Mrs Barton, let's go take a walk before we turn in." Clint said throwing some money down on the table as he got up.

As the city got dark Clint and Natasha walked through the park hand in hand. Natasha was now wearing Clint's jacket around her shoulders as he thought it was getting a little cold for her. She accepted it, thinking that she shouldn't fight with her new husband just yet.

They came across a carousel that had been closed up for the night and Clint seemed to get an idea. With a devious look on his face he checked around quickly to see if there was anyone nearby and pulled her with him to the side door.

"What are you doing you idiot? Do you want to get arrested and spend our wedding night in the slammer?" Natasha said watching him break the padlock on the door.

"Ahhh where's your sense of adventure?" He said giving her a shove inside as he shut the door behind them again. He broke open the control panel and the carousel suddenly roared into life, it's tinny music making Natasha laugh. She sighed and took her shoes off as she hopped up onto a horse.

He leaned against the wall and watched her go around a few times before jumping on beside her. She held on as she leaned back closing her eyes, enjoying the slight breeze on her face.

"You know I've never been on one of these before." She said still with her eyes shut. Clint moved closer to her and caressed her shoulder lightly.

"What never? That's criminal!" He said as her eyes flew open. She hugged the pole she was holding onto bringing her closer to him. He wrapped an arm around her as her trusty steed moved up and down.

"You know…you do a lot of things like this for me and I don't really do anything in return for you. Aren't you sick of me by now?" She said quietly looking at the ground.

"No! " he said shaking his head at her, he brought her chin up to his level gently with his hand and kissed her cheek.

"You see I've figured out that this is what a relationship is, wanting to do things for someone just to see the happiness it gives them. I love doing stuff like this for you because no one's ever done it for you before. I mean here you are on a carousel for the first time in your whole life!"

She laughed and looked at him lovingly. "I love you." She said simply as he smiled at her.

"I know, I love you too. I want to show you what the world can be like, that there's a lot of good in it to go with all the bad you've seen and experienced your whole life." He said sincerely as she soaked up all the love coming from his eyes for her.

"You say you haven't given me anything but you've given me the two most important things in the world. You gave me your heart and now you're giving me a family." he said as he caressed the slight bump she had reverently with both hands as she sighed at his touch.

**I think the next chapter will be the last as we meet the tiniest Avenger of all! **


	9. Chapter 9

**Last Chapter! Thank you so much again for all the reviews and encouragement and for adding my story to your lists! **

"I'm telling you Pepper, I don't know what to do." Clint Barton puffed out an exasperated breath as he sat on a stool at the breakfast bar in Tony and Pepper's penthouse.

He had come to seek Pepper's advise on Natasha's current behaviour. She was seven months pregnant and meaner than hell - all of her anger and frustration over the last few weeks had been hurled at Clint and he didn't know how to turn it around. So he now sat in front of the only other woman he was friends with.

Pepper leant against the counter top and looked at him sympathetically. "You know Clint you just have to walk a little while in her shoes."

Clint frowned at her and she continued, "What I mean is imagine you are Natasha, smoking hot body, world class assassin and suddenly you're pregnant. You're getting heavier everyday, you waddle like a duck and your hormones are going haywire. Get what I mean?"

Clint nodded looking at the floor - he hadn't really considered how all these changes were affecting Natasha. He just saw it as a magical experience watching his child grow inside of his wife but then he wasn't the one who had to carry the baby.

"How's the sex been?" Pepper said bluntly causing Clint to stutter a little.

"Um, um…well uh." Pepper frowned, "Come on Clint I'm not going to tell anyone I swear."

"Well we haven't really been doing that recently." Clint said suddenly becoming fascinated with the floor.

"Why not, you usually can't keep your hands off each other." Pepper said.

"Well you know I'm not really sure how to go about it since she got bigger, I don't want to hurt her, or the baby…." he said suddenly realising how silly that sounded.

"So you just haven't done it and haven't talked to her about it." Pepper said raising her voice. "And now on top of everything else she probably thinks that you don't find her sexy anymore. Plus I bet she's horny as hell!"

Clint blushed and sighed. Once again, he hadn't thought she'd see it that way. Crap.

He threw his hands up and got off the stool standing in front of Pepper. "Ok I get it, how do I fix it?" He said asking her advice.

Pepper smiled at him, "oh I have some ideas. Nothing short of a grand gesture will do and that's something I have no problem arranging. After all I've been apologising to people for Tony for years!" she said triumphantly.

"In the meantime, go see Bruce about your little bedroom dilemma and I'm sure he'll be able to tell you what to do for the best." She said shooing him away as she started to tap her I-pad furiously.

"What, no way, I'm not talking about this with a guy.." His protests were silenced by Pepper holding out her arm towards the elevator. He guessed that meant GO so he did.

He loitered outside the lab thinking about how he would bring this subject into conversation with another dude and was startled by Bruce opening the door to the lab and peering out at him.

"Clint just come in already, Pepper called ahead." He said going back in.

"Oh great," Clint said under his breath, this was going to be uncomfortable.

A little while later Clint arrived home and looked for Natasha. These days she was spending a lot of time in the pool to relax. As he made his way there and looked through the glass on the door he saw her floating on her back moving her arms and legs occasionally. He smiled as her bump rose above the water and marvelled at her beauty.

He could honestly say she was beautiful, all she saw was the weight gain and loss of physical fitness but was watching her nurture their child and couldn't help but find her damn sexy. Familiar urges started to rise within him but he tried his best to push them aside as he opened the door slowly, making a little noise so he wouldn't startle her.

She turned over and waded to the side of the pool, bobbing up and down as she watched him come over to her.

"I'm sorry, " She said to him sighing - she had been apologising to him a lot lately. He gave her a loving look that said don't worry about it as he lay on his stomach so that his head was hanging out over the edge of the pool beside hers.

He leaned forward a little more and tried to kiss her worries away. "Baby you've got nothing to apologise for. I know this isn't easy for you to deal with and I should be helping you more."

She opened her mouth to protest and he kissed her again before she could talk. When he broke away, she said, "Dammit, stop doing that." Smiling slowly she shook her head at him.

"You need some time to yourself so a car is coming to pick you up and take you into the city in a few hours." He said getting up and retrieving a towel for her. He held her hand and helped her out of the pool wrapping the fluffy towel around his family as he kissed her forehead.

"Where am I going?" She said with a puzzled look on her face.

"I don't actually know, that's where Pepper comes in but I'm guessing it's some kind of spa place…I'm not sure she wasn't specific and said I didn't need to know and just to hand over my credit card. It was kind of like being mugged….anyway you're staying there overnight and then she's bringing you back tomorrow sometime."

Natasha threw her arms around Clint's neck and buried her face in his shoulder muttering something as she began to cry (also a new regular occurrence - man this expectant father thing was tough!).

"Honey, come on, let's go get you packed up and ready to go." He brought her face up to meet his and wiped her tears away.

The next day Natasha was dropped off at the house and Clint met her at the door to take her bag.

"So how was it?" He asked setting her bag down on the floor and taking her coat, discarding it on the chair.

"It was so amazing. Relaxing and peaceful, I really needed it - thank you so much baby." She said as she kissed him on the lips briefly.

He winked at her and took her hand leading her down the hallway. "I've got a little surprise for you.."

He stopped at the door of one of the guest rooms which had a big red bow on it. She rolled her eyes at the bow.

"Come on, I'm making an effort here, now close your eyes." He scolded her.

He opened the door and guided her in, standing behind her as he said, "Okay, open up."

Natasha opened her eyes and let them focus on the room. They widened as she beheld everything in front of her and then clouded over with tears as she looked back at Clint. He smiled at her reaction as he leant against the door frame.

The room smelled of fresh paint, light green with a Winnie the Pooh border around the top of the walls. Against the back wall of the airy room was a beautiful dark wood crib all made up with a cheerful mobile hanging over it. Acting on impulse she went over to it and wound it up, smiling when she heard the gentle nursery rhyme music it made.

Matching closets and drawer sets, a changing table and a beautiful rocking chair by the large window filled the room. She walked over to the chair and sat down carefully, rocking back and forth for a second.

Swallowing hard she looked back at Clint, "How did you get this done so fast?"

Clint came over to her and said, "Well you know, Pepper's pretty organised and people seem to work at warp speed at the mention of Tony's name. I painted it and did the border and the guys assembled the furniture and helped me do bits and pieces."

She smiled at the thought of them all in this room working together. He helped her up from the rocking chair and said, "But if you don't like any of it…" Natasha held up her hand to quiet his fears shaking her head.

"It's so beautiful, I love it. I couldn't have dreamt of a room like this - I didn't even know they existed outside of movies and books." She said wistfully looking around again.

Her words broke his heart. This was nothing she'd ever had and it mesmerized her.

"Maybe if you look in the top drawer there might be something for you." He said motioning with a nod of his head.

She smiled and opened the drawer to reveal a jewellery box. She lifted it out and opened it up to reveal a beautiful white gold pendant to match the bracelet that he'd given to her on their first date. She motioned for him to put it on for her as she held her hair up from her neck.

He fastened it carefully and kissed her neck when he was done. She turned to him and stood on her tiptoes to hug him tightly. She could never have dreamed of this, never had dreams until she had him.

Later as they got into bed Natasha went to turn off the light but he stopped her.

He rolled over so that he was leaning over her and kissed her passionately.

She looked a little taken aback and it made him feel guilty that he hadn't been paying her enough attention in this way.

"I'm sorry for not making love to you for so long. I don't want you to think it's because I don't find you attractive because you have no idea how sexy you are right now, honestly. I just was afraid to hurt you or the baby and well I did what any smart guy does and completely ignored the problem." Clint confessed to her as she stroked his neck.

She smiled at him, "well I'm a little relieved that you still want me because I sure want you." She pulled his head down to her level gently and kissed him soundly.

Some time later as they lay coming down from their passion Natasha turned to Clint and asked, "where'd you learn the new positions?"

Clint said quickly without thinking, "Bruce."

As he ran into the Tower he jumped into the elevator and said, "Medical floor Jarvis, hurry." Clint had received a call a little while earlier from Pepper to say that Natasha had gone into labour whilst visiting with her and to get his ass there damn quick.

He was excited, nervous, completely terrified - too many emotions to be colliding inside him at once that he almost felt weak. The doors opened and he squeezed through them impatiently heading to the room Pepper had told him Natasha was in, only to be met at the door by her on a gurney being rushed out.

"What's going on?" He said as he looked at Natasha whose face was pale and contorted with pain. She was delirious and didn't seem to know he was there.

Bruce came up beside the gurney as they hurried her towards the operating theatre with Pepper and Thor following closely behind.

"She's haemorrhaging Clint, we've got to get the baby out fast to stop the bleeding. I'm sorry you've got to stay here." As they pushed her through the doors Clint noted the blood soaked sheets and tried to follow her in.

Thor came to him and held him firmly, "No my friend you must let them help her. We will stay with you however it long it takes brother."

Clint knew it was useless to fight and sank into a chair when Thor let him go. He looked up at Pepper silently asking what happened.

"We were just talking and she had a sharp pain and passed out. I yelled for help and Thor came in, carried her down here and Bruce examined her. She seemed ok when I called you and then just before you came in she said she had the pain again and thought her waters had broke but when we looked it was blood." Pepper looked down fighting back tears, sitting beside Clint. She took his hand in hers and he held it gratefully as he looked at the doors helplessly.

What would he do if anything went wrong? He could never live without her now, not knowing how happy he can be with her. It would be pointless. He bent over and began to sob silently squeezing Pepper's hand.

Thor sat down on the other side of him and silently placed a hand on his back.

After what seemed like an eternity the doors finally opened and Bruce emerged. Clint's head snapped up as soon as he heard the doors and he jumped up.

"Bruce?" He said desperately. Bruce began to smile slowly. "They're both fine, you can relax Barton. We managed to stop the bleeding as soon as the baby was delivered. We had to give her a lot of blood so she'll be weak for a while but she's starting to come around slowly.

Clint nodded and took deep breaths as he reached out for Bruce's hand. As they shook he placed his other hand on top of Bruce's saying, "Thank you, Bruce - I'll never be able to repay you." He said genuinely.

Bruce shook his head, "Just that they're both ok is good enough for me." He leaned back and pushed open one of the doors, "Which reminds me.."

A nurse emerged with a bundle of blankets and placed them in Clint's arms. "Congratulations Mr Barton, this is your daughter." she said.

Clint moved the blanket back to see the baby's face better and she opened up her eyes staring right at him. He fell in love for the second time in his life and was utterly speechless.

"Oh my gosh she's so beautiful, is she ok?" Pepper said touching her cheek softly as she questioned Bruce.

"She's just fine, very healthy and strong. Seven pounds of cuteness." Bruce said smiling. "Why don't you take her back to the room, we'll bring Natasha back in a little while."

"What, on my own? What if she needs…-" Clint said nervously and Bruce called over his shoulder,

"You're her Daddy, you're what she needs."

Clint, Pepper and Thor walked back to the room and Clint sat down in the chair with her. "Oh my God, I'm her Daddy." He said to himself as Pepper and Thor looked on.

When they brought Natasha back he had been sitting with his daughter alone for some time. Pepper went to get Steve and Tony - Thor left to give him some time alone.

He sat on the edge of the bed and touched her hand as she came around. "Hey baby, are you okay?"

"Mmm, I feel like shit." She said honestly and he shook his head.

"No swearing around the kid now." At the mention of the baby Natasha's eyes opened properly and focused on the baby in Clint's arms.

"Oh my God, " she exclaimed as she reached out for her daughter. Clint settled her in Natasha's arms and kept a hand on her for Natasha was still very weak.

Natasha held her daughter for the first time and began to sob uncontrollably.

"Hey come on, it's ok. You're both ok and that's the most important thing." Clint said soothing kissing her cheek and tasting her tears.

There was a knock at the door a few hours later and Clint realised they'd have to let the world in sooner or later.

He got up from the bed and opened the door to be smacked in the face with several large pink balloons.

"Oops, sorry Legolas, couldn't see for the balloons." Tony said dropping them in the corner as he stepped towards the bed. Clint rolled his eyes as he punched the balloons away from the bed pretending they were Stark's face.

Pepper, Steve, Bruce and Thor following gingerly behind at least having the decency to check that it was ok if they came in.

Of course it was as Natasha sat up carefully with the baby, feeling a little stronger. Pepper went straight to her and hugged her the best she could.

"Thank you Pepper and you Thor, I dread to think what would have happened if I'd been alone." Natasha said looking between her friends. Clint closed his eyes momentarily at her words, not wanting to think back to just a few hours ago when he had thought the worst.

Thor came over to Clint and said in his booming voice, "May I bestow a blessing on the child? In Asgard it is customary for the King to do so with a newborn baby."

Clint looked at Natasha and shrugged, "Sure, I guess, go for it!" Thor took the baby carefully from Natasha and got down on his knees. Everyone watched with amazement as he raised her up above his head, making Natasha's heart beat a little faster. He whispered some words and made a little sign on the baby's head with his finger finally tenderly kissing her cheek before handing her back to Natasha.

She smiled and placed her hand on his arm, "Thank you Thor, I appreciate that." He nodded his head in acceptance.

"Yeah okaaay, not even a day old and she's already been blessed by a King. That's pretty good going!" Tony said, completely ruining the moment of course.

Bruce came over to Natasha and touched the baby's hand softly. Natasha motioned for him to take her but he shrank from her shaking his head. "It's ok Bruce - if it wasn't for you she and probably I wouldn't be here."

Clint came to Natasha's side and took the baby, "Really Bruce, I'd gladly trust you with my daughter's life. I know you'd never harm her." He held her out and Bruce finally took her from him.

"Is this really such a good idea, I mean one false move and big old green guy comes…owww" Tony was stopped in his train of thought my an elbow from Pepper.

"I'm just saying that maybe it's not a good plan to …oww. Can everyone stop elbowing me please." Tony said as this time the elbow came from Steve and it was a lot harder.

Bruce handed the baby back to Clint as she began to fuss and he soothed her like a pro. "So what's her name?" Steve asked as he touched her tiny hand.

Natasha looked at Clint, "Well we had a deal that if it was a girl Clint would decide and if it was a boy I would decide. So Clint, fire away."

She said looking at him expectantly. He smiled at his daughter and said, "well I've thought long and hard about this - her name is Katya. Katya Seville Barton." The name was met with soft aww's from the assembled friends and Natasha looked up at her husband with tears in her eyes.

Katya was the name of Natasha's mother, her biological mother that she was torn from as a child and never saw again. Seville was the city in Spain where Clint had been sent to kill Natasha but instead chose to spare her life. The fact that their daughter would bear these two meaningful names filled her heart with more love than she thought possible.

Two days later as Clint secured his daughter into her car seat for the journey home a visitor appeared at the hospital room door with a large bunch of flowers.

"I'm sorry I couldn't get here sooner, I was out of the country. Hill let me know." Nick Fury set the flowers down on the bed and peered into the seat at the sleeping baby. Clint could have sworn he saw the smallest hint of a smile from the Director of SHIELD.

"Thank you Sir, it's good of you to come. Natasha's just upstairs with the others, she'll be back in a minute."

Fury straightened up and shook his head, "I have to be going, just a flying visit." As he started towards the door he held out his hand and Clint shook it.

"Good luck with your new mission son." Fury said with a nod and was gone. As Clint looked back at the baby, he realised it was going to be the toughest mission he'd ever faced.

That night as Natasha came out of their bathroom she felt almost human again - still a little weak she made her way over to the bed and was met with the cutest sight she had ever seen.

Clint was lying on the bed asleep in front of the television with their daughter asleep on his chest. He stirred to see her and smiled lazily shifting carefully.

"That looks comfy - any room for me?" Natasha asked. He held out his arm for her to lie down against him and she settled down carefully next to the baby. She stroked her daughter's soft hair tenderly and pressed a kiss to her forehead before reaching up slightly to kiss Clint.

They snuggled down together and after a moment Natasha said, "She wipes everything clean - my ledger, all the red is gone."

Clint smiled kissing her forehead. "No more red for us, only pink." They both chuckled softly. Clint tightened his hold on his wife as they drifted off to sleep once more, safe together.

**That's IT! I hope you all enjoyed the last chapter! :D**


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